Hoops

The Finals are over and the dust has settled.  The Golden State Warriors avenged last years melt down and beat the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers 4 games to 1.  The Warriors ended the post season with a 16-1 record and won their 2nd title in the last 3 years.  So now that the Finals are over, the question has come up regarding LeBron James’ legacy and whether or not he should be in the conversation regarding being the G.O.A.T.

So let’s get down to business.  LBJ is a fantastic talent, he’s a great all around player, and has been considered the best player of this generation.  But is he the G.O.A.T.?  From my perspective, he’s far from it.  And there are several reasons why.  Number 1 being that LBJ had the best team in the Eastern Conference in 2008 and 2009 and came up short by losing to the Magic and the Celtics. Why would you pack up and leave town after winning 60+ games 2 seasons in a row?  He left town and decided to take his talents to South Beach and in the process created a spectacle called “The Decision” and went to go play with his buddies (D Wade and Chris Bosh).

Most of the greatest players in our league have stayed with the same franchise throughout their careers (e.g. Magic,  MJ, Russell, Bird, etc.).  Secondly, if they did leave, it was via a trade that they really had no say in (e.g. Kareem, Wilt, Moses, etc.).  After saying they would win “not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5…” they ended up winning 2 in the time that they were together and then LBJ bolts back to Cleveland to win a chip for northeast Ohio.  Now that’s sweet, but it shows a gypsy mentality.  He’s willing to do whatever it takes to chase rings.  In 2015 they lost to the Warriors 4-2.  In 2016 they made an epic comeback from being down 3-1 and won the series 4-3.  This year, 2017, the Warriors dominated, winning 4-1.  The 1 win by the Cavs being almost the perfect game.

So if you’re 3-5 in the finals can you be considered the G.O.A.T.?  Jordan was 6-0, Russell was 11-2, Kareem 6-4, Magic 5-4, Kobe 5-2, Shaq 4-2.  You’ve lost more than you’ve won, so no G.O.A.T. there.  But LBJ has become the media darling.  He’s the most verstatile, and best all around player we’ve seen.  But is he?  He’s used the media to perpetuate his “greatness”, however flawed it may be.  A great talent that has continually come up short when it counts.

Let’s first understand the rules changes that have occurred since the “Golden 80s and 90s”.  You can’t touch guys on the perimeter anymore, and hard fouls are now considered flagrant or technical fouls.  LBJ and all his contemporaries have clearly benefited from these changes, so it’s hard to compare eras.

One thing that we need to look at is how the media has adopted and promoted LBJ as “The Best Ever”.  Is it warranted?  He’s 3-5 in the Finals, his teams are clearly the best in a currently inferior eastern conference, he’s switched teams twice, and may soon do it a third time, and yet the media has still found a way to crown him “king”.

Let’s look at his last press conference at the end of the Finals.  He said he’d never been on a “super team”, and didn’t support them.  However, he went to Miami to team up with buddies Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade to form a “super team”.  When they lost to Dallas in the Finals, he was part of the recruiting effort to get Ray Allen to Miami creating what amounted to a “Big 4”.  Isn’t that a “super team”?  Such hypocrisy.  You can’t have your cake and eat it too.  Just because you are the self proclaimed “king” doesn’t mean you don’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else.  And when your shit starts to stank, you wanna change the narrative in your favor? Not gonna happen.

In this writers opinion, LBJ’s weakness is his lack of heart.  His strength is the fact that he’s been able to get the NBA to do his bidding.   Stats are great, but they don’t tell the whole story.  You can manipulate stats to cater to whatever narrative you have in mind.  Let LBJ be LBJ.  If he’s not liked, so be it!  He’s the most polarizing figure in the league.  You will not convince NBA purists or old school fans to crown him until he develops a killer instinct and wins more Finals appearances than he loses.

It was billed as the KD vs. Russ show, but it’s always about the teams, not the individuals.  It was KD’s first trip back to OKC since his “defection” to Golden State.  And the fans, and the city of Oklahoma City was lathered up!  There were signs, chants and vitriol all directed at Kevin Durant for his decision to leave OKC and join Steph Curry and company in Oakland.

Leading up to this matchup the Warriors and Thunder had met in Oakland twice, with Golden State winning both matchups.  Durant had 2 of his highest scoring games of the season (42 and 39), and the Warriors won by 20+ on both occasions.  This time, with a change of scenery, it was thought that the Thunder would be able to make the game more competitive and possibly come away with a win.

But instead the city decided to engage in a bit of name calling that did nothing but fire up KD and his Warrior teammates.  After streaming out to an early lead in the first quarter, the Warriors went on a run that led to a 23 point half point lead.  Russ was having his usual good game, but the rest of the Thunder were not.

He was called #Cupcake, traitor, #soft, but in the end, he did what he had to do.  KD led the way for GSW with 34 points, while Russ chipped in 47 for OKC in a losing effort.  In short this was another dominant performance by GSW and another loss for OKC.

Many people thought this matchup would develop into a rivalry, but it’s only a rivalry when the other team offers resistance, and actually wins some games.  At present, OKC has lost 6 straight, including the last 3 games of the Western Conference Finals, and they have just not looked good with their 1 superstar, Russell Westbrook.

Last night’s game kinda leads us to understand why KD left OKC.  Russ is so ball dominant, that the offense becomes stagnant when he decides to go 1-on-1.  There were several moments in the 2nd half when KD was matched up 1-on-1 with Russ, and Russ could not resist the temptation to try and take it to his former teammate.  This is one of the things that KD complained about throughout his time with Russ in OKC.

Now he’s on a team that’s predicated on ball movement and team play, and is flourishing.  If KD’s goal was to become a part of a squad that was more conducive to his goals and natural skills, he’s found the right place.  Does it excuse the perception of his lack of desire to compete AGAINST  the best?  Not really.  He’ll probably never be able to live that down, but he has definitely aligned himself with a team/organization that is ready to win now and in the foreseeable future.

So here we go.  I kind of knew that it would be just a matter of time.  LeBron James finally claps back!  But why now, and why at a legend in Charles Barkley?  I guess “King” James is tired of being silent and letting all of the nay sayers run rampant about him.  But did Barkley not tell the truth?

This all started as a discussion on the NBA on TNT amongst Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson.  They were talking about LeBron’s statement about needing some help, and needing a playmaker in order to repeat as NBA Champions this season.

http://www.nba.com/video/2017/01/27/20170127-shaq-charles-debate-lebron-inside-nba-full

Personally, I thought it was pretty weak of the “King” to start whining to the media about needing some help in order to repeat.  You have a Big Three in yourself, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.  You have a guy that does the dirty work in Tristan Thompson.  Management went out and got Kyle Korver to help spread the floor and open up driving lanes for you and Kyrie.  What more do you want “King”?

You’re already taking nights off because you’re sooooooo tired, and now you’re whining because you, the defending NBA champ, needs more help.  REALLY?!  As a TV commentator it’s Barkley’s job to call it like he sees it whether you like it or not.  That’s what sportscasters and journalists do.  But what made you choose Barkley?  Folks like Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Mike Wilbon, and others have been critical of you for years, and I’ve never heard a peep out of you.

Maybe it’s because he felt Barkley was an easy mark since he’s had more than his share of personal issues off the court.  But one thing we all know is that Sir Charles brought it every night, and never made excuses.  Not saying that LBJ is making excuses, but today’s athlete needs to learn how to shut up sometimes.  There’s no need to be transparent to the media on any and everything.

And for D Wade to add his 2 cents in support of his BFF was also unnecessary.  Makes me lose a tad bit of respect for the guy.  Let your boy fight his own battles, he’s a grown ass man.  The best thing you could have, and should have done in that situation was to say “no comment”.  But you stepped in it. So be ready for whatever comes at you.  Especially since you went before the media spilling locker room issues.  Another no-no.  These guys are breaking “man laws” all over the place.

Barkley could have come right back at LBJ, but he took the high road.  I was personally shocked, because it could have gone all the way left.  But I’m glad it didn’t.  Hopefully we’re done talking about this and can move on to the next crisis which will probably be LBJ complaining about not getting enough foul calls.  But then again, we may have heard that one already.

It was a Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks were getting ready to play the New Orleans Pelicans. But something was missing. Something very important. What? THE STARTING POINT GUARD!

Yep, to everyone’s dismay Derrick Rose, the Knicks starting PG had gone AWOL. He was at the morning shoot around, but just before tip-off, no one knew where he was. No call, no text, not even his agent knew his whereabouts.

As it turns out, Rose jumped on a flight to his hometown, Chicago, IL, to tend to what is being called a “family emergency.”  So what type of family emergency prevents one from calling his employer to notify them that they can’t come to work?  This is just too weird if you ask me.

Not only did he leave without any type of notification, but when people called his cell phone to find out where he was, he wouldn’t answer. Then when he came back, he talked about retiring or taking a sabatical from basketball. Something’s obviously wrong in Mr. Rose’s world.

But here’s the kicker. When he returned to the Knicks, there were NO CONSEQUENCES!  He was simply inserted into the starting lineup of the next game as though nothing happened. This might explain why the Knicks organization is in somewhat of a shambles.

With most employers you can’t just have a no call, no show and expect things to be business as usual when you return, other people are depending on you like your teammates, coaching staff, and the fans paid good money to see you perform.

Now obviously if this were something serious and personal, it’s not going to be made known to the public, but yet and still, there has to be some kind is consequence and repercussion because of how it was handled. He was fined a significant amount, but I feel he should have received at least a 1-game suspension.

So Rose will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and is looking for a big payday. But if I’m the Knicks front office I don’t know if I’d be willing to sign him to a max deal. This guy has become a head case.

Since the knee injury during his MVP season, he hasn’t been the same player. He hasn’t been able to play a full season, the explosion to the basket is most times absent, and he’s recently talked about retirement. He is a fabulous talent, but is he really interested in being the superstar he was on his way to becoming just 5 short years ago?

He’s obviously a player that any team in the league would love to have, but do you offer max money to a guy who’s subject to disappear at a moments notice?  Who makes Latrell Sprewell like statements of having to feed his family? And who’s heart has been questioned after missing an entire season after the ACL injury?

New York has been a franchise known for saddling itself with bad contracts. Don’t fall for the banana in the tail pipe again. BE SMART!

He spent 19 seasons in the NBA and amassed the following achievements:

• 5 NBA titles
• 3 NBA Finals MVPs
• 2 league MVP awards
• 1 All Star Game MVP Award
• 15 All Star selections
• Rookie of the Year in 1998

And all of this occurred after a stellar college career at Wake Forest University, where he was named National College Player of the Year in 1997.  This week Tim Duncan decided to call it a career and announced his retirement from the only team he’s known, the San Antonio Spurs.

But all of this almost never happened.  Duncan was a swimmer with dreams of making the 1992 US Olympic Swim Team.  He didn’t pick up a basketball until the age of 14.  And the only reason he did that is because Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic size swimming pool in his home of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.

I guess you could say thank God for hurricanes.  Because of Hugo, it gave us basketball fans a treat.  We were witness to the greatest power forward to ever play the game.  He could score, rebound, block shots, and that patented bank shot from the elbow was almost automatic.  All these are reasons why he was affectionately known as the “Big Fundamental”.  Not flashy, but sound in every aspect of his game.

Even though this past season was not his best with injury and Father Time seeming to catch up, it was believed that Timmy might give it one more go.  But in his announcement he revealed that he just wasn’t having fun anymore.  When you no longer want to do it, it’s time to hang it up.

While the game will miss him, I’m sure that his next chapter will be as fundamentally sound as the first.

Last night in the triple digit heat of Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Lakers debuted their #2 overall pick Brandon Ingram in the annual Las Vegas NBA Summer League.  It was a matchup between the Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans, who feature their own highly touted rookie in Buddy Hield, who was last season’s NCAA Player of the Year.

While Buddy had a rough shooting night in his debut, Brandon Ingram, a.k.a. Silky Slim did not disappoint.  Ingram was 5 of 9 from the field with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and an assist.  But aside from the stat line, what was more impressive is that he did not force the action and try to do too much.  He did everything within the flow of the game and showed what Lakers brass saw when deciding to make him the #2 overall pick in this year’s draft.

Even though it’s only summer league, it’s good to see the young talent.  The teams are primarily made up of drafted and undrafted rookies, 2nd year players and, guys trying to move up from the D-League.  The Lakers young guys, D’Angelo Russell, Larry Nance, Jr., and 2nd round pick Ivica Zubac, were very impressive last night.  Is it a sign of good things to come?  Only time will tell.

With the Lakers having struggled mightily over the last 3 seasons, there’s a lot on young Ingram’s shoulders.  Kobe is gone, no high profile free agents are interested in coming to a franchise that has had no clear direction over the last 3 years, and there’s a brand new coaching staff that’s going to try and bring the winning attitude back to this once proud franchise.

Obviously the kid’s gonna need to bulk up and get stronger so that he doesn’t wear down over the 82-game season.  Seems like we said the same thing about a young cat out of the University of Texas 9 years ago, who would go on to become a league MVP and one of the 5 best players in the league today.  That guy of course is none other than Kevin Durant.

If last night is any indication I think Ingram, a.k.a. Silky Slim, is up to the challenge.  And there’s a nation of Laker fans that are hoping and praying the same.

They dared him to do it, they pretty much slapped him in the face by not taking care of him as he thought they should have, and now he’s gone.  Dwayne Wade has decided to leave the Miami Heat and play for his hometown Chicago Bulls. Many are wondering how did this happen?  Don’t the Heat have Wade’s Bird Rights?  Why can’t they just sign him for a max salary under the rules of the CBA?

Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.  The biggest issue is that both Wade and Whiteside were unrestricted free agents.  In order to sign 2 of your own free agents you still must have the available cap space to do so.  The Heat had ~$46 million in cap space.  Because D. Wade’s current salary is ~$20 million, they have a cap hold of $20 million for D. Wade within this year’s salary cap, which is part of his Bird Rights Exception.  Basically that means that they could re-sign Wade for $20 million.  When they agreed to sign Whiteside to his max deal of 4-yr/$98 million, they could not offer Wade more than $21.5 million per season because that would put them over the cap.

In short, the Heat chose Whiteside over Wade, and that sucks.  You choose a guy who hasn’t won ANYTHING over the guy who is responsible for bringing 3 NBA titles to South Beach.  The guy who gave up money to enable you to sign Bosh and LeBron.  And this is how you repay him?

Shame on you Mickey Arison and Pat Riley.  I’m sure your franchise will recover, but you slapped the “Heat Lifer” in the face.  That explains why Wade is going back home to Chi-town.  It’s clearly not a better situation, but at least he’s going somewhere where he actually feels wanted, and appreciated.

After 13 seasons as THE MAN in Miami, it’s come down to this.  Dwayne Wade is now on the downside of what has been a stellar NBA career.  He has helped the Heat to win 3 NBA titles, and has participated in countless community endeavors in the Miami area.  But to say that this 13-year relationship is on the rocks is an understatement.

Dwayne Wade, affectionately known to fans and friends as D. Wade, was the 5th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.  He has spend his entire professional career in Miami, and is now an unrestricted free agent.  This is supposed to be the year that Wade cashes in his credit to finally get PAID!

He’s a 12 time all star, the 2006 Finals MVP, the 2010 All Star Game MVP, and was the 2009 scoring champion.  Despite all his accolades and his loyalty to the Heat organization, Wade has never been the highest paid player on the team.  This was supposed to be the year he would cash in and #GetHisMoney.

When Wade was a free agent in 2010, he gave up a max deal so that the Heat could sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and form what became the Big 3.  This paid dividends, allowing the Heat to go to 4 consecutive NBA Finals, winning back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.

So when the Heat’s elder statesman became an unrestricted free agent on July 1st it was automatically assumed that Wade would finally cash in and get the money he so deserved, and had earned as the cornerstone of the franchise.  But apparently the front office saw it differently.  Instead they placed priority on center, Hassan Whiteside, whom they signed to a 4-yr/$98 million deal.  They then went aggressively after Kevin Durant until it was revealed that he would sign with the Golden State Warriors.  So now it’s Wade’s turn, and what happens?  The Heat offer him a 2-yr/$40 million deal.  That’s an average of $20 million per year, still about $4.5 million per year less than Whiteside’s deal.

It was reported that there was wiggle room built into Whiteside’s deal in case Durant had agreed to go to South Beach, so where is that wiggle room now?  Why are the Heat dissing the guy who has helped bring them 3 NBA titles?  Why have they turned their backs on the guy that gave up money so that they could create the Big 3 with Wade, Bosh and James?  It just doesn’t make since.

So since Miami is being uncooperative, D. Wade has to take care of himself.  He has been pursued by the Bulls, Knicks, Bucks, Nuggets, and it is reported that Cleveland has an interest, but doesn’t have the cap room.  Wade is looking for a 2-yr/$50 million deal, and recent reports say that the Nuggets have stepped up and made an offer “north of $50 million”.  This is big news because now the ball is in Miami’s court.

I don’t think Wade wants to leave South Beach, but he’s feeling disrespected at this point, and may not have a choice in order to get what he feels he deserves.  But are the Denver Nuggets going to give him an opportunity to try and get that 4th NBA title?  They’ve got some young talent, but they are not at all ready for prime time.

So will the Heat step up to the plate or will Wade be taking his talents to The Rocky Mountains?

In what has to be the most shocking move of this years free agent period, Kevin Durant, a.k.a. Durantula, a.k.a. The Slim Reaper has decided to leave OKC and join up with the Golden State Warriors.  This has sent shockwaves throughout the sports world today.  So what does this mean?  Well, it tips the scales back in Golden State’s favor.  After blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in this year’s NBA Finals, some glaring weaknesses were exposed by the Cavs, which lead to Golden State’s front office aggressively pursuing the 2014 MVP.

Durant joins the Splash Brothers to form one of the most prolific outside shooting trios in NBA history.  But why?  Why would KD leave a team that was 1 game away from gaining a trip to The Finals to join the team that defeated them in 7 games?  In my estimation it’s a little bit of a cop out.

Durant and Westbrook formed one of the most prolific duos in the league.  They gave the Warriors fits in the Western Conference Finals and with the continued development of Steven Adams and Enis Kanter, they seemed to be well on the way to getting back to the NBA Finals sooner, rather than later.  They traded away Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo, which appeared to make way for Steven Adams, and added a perimeter defender in Oladipo.

But after having a phone conversation with The Logo, Jerry West, Durant decided that he wanted the opportunity to get to The Finals next season.  West told Durant how his own 1-8 Finals record haunts him to this day.  Durant doesn’t want to be added to the list of great players with no ring.  Players like Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and John Stockton.

There was a time when players relished playing against, and beating their rivals.  Magic and Larry Bird loved competing against each other.  Jordan and Ewing enjoyed their battles, and the list goes on.  Now we have guys banding together to form these super teams.  Everyone wants to play with their friends or contemporaries and that’s just WEAK.  This is exactly what the league was trying to prevent when the salary cap was instituted.  But now players have engaged in colluding together to create the team of their desires.

Is it unfair? No!  But it used to be that a super team was created and developed through the draft.  Chemistry was developed over time, and a dynasty was formed.  This is how the Celtics of the ’50s and ’60s did it, how the Showtime Lakers of the ’80s did it, and how the Bulls of the ’90s were put together.  You might have 1 key trade or free agent signing, but you didn’t have players meeting together to develop a plan on how they could play together.

I wish KD luck in his new home, but he’s lost a little respect in my eyes.  Vegas now has the Warriors as 2-3 favorites to win the NBA title next season, but what happens if the Warriors DON’T win?  KD is only signing a 2-yr/$54 million dollar deal, with the 2nd year being a player option.  Will he become a gypsy and move from team to team chasing rings?  Only time will tell, but for a player that I once thought had one of the biggest hearts in the game today, this is a pretty heartless move.

But I guess if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

On July 1st the NBA free agent courtship period began. And all I can say is OMG!!!  This is probably the greatest time, financially, to be a part of the NBA. Players are making some serious coin.

The salary cap has jumped approximately $20 million dollars from this past season so every team is in play. Next season the cap is projected to increase another $12-$15 million, so it’s not over. This is just the beginning.

This season’s big prize is obviously Kevin Durant, who has yet to decide on where he will go. But once considered mediocre players are cashing in. Ryan Anderson, a 3-point specialist has agreed to a 4-yr/$80 million dollar contract, Hassan Whiteside for 4-yrs/$98 million, Mike Conley for 5-yr/$153 million, Timofey Mozfov for 4-yr/$64 million, Nicolas Batum for 5-yr/$120 million, Chandler Parsons for 4-yr/$98.5 million, Kent Bazemore for 4-yr/$70 million.

The thing that all these guys have in common is that none of them have been to an all-star game, none have been elected to All-NBA anything. With the exception of Mike Conley, they are all role players.

And let’s look at Mike Conley. His deal is the richest contract in NBA history! Really?!  Conley hasn’t been an all star, nor has he led the Grizzzlies to an NBA Finals appearance. He’s an outstanding point guard, but $153 million?

But let’s not blame the players, they’re simply cashing in on what they agreed to in the most recent collective bargaining agreement. If these are what the new market rates are, by all means, they should get their money. Baseball has been doing it for years.

Many NFL stars had a lot to say about the new deals, as did many old school NBA stars. But it’s a new day, with an influx of new TV money that is allowing player salaries to balloon like never before. This is what the players union worked towards, and the players are reaping the benefits.