The Redskins are arguably the worst team in the NFL, Maryland is AWFUL and my fantasy football team is 1-2 and ‘Doin’ The Brew‘. In short, I’m ready for basketball season and this montage by NavjotEnt over on YouTube is slowly but surely pulling me in. All in all, a good way to get amped about hoops if you’re football life is as hopeless as mine.
Artist Statement: A mix I made about the upcoming NBA Season. A lot of things have changed over the summer which should add to the excitement of the NBA. With Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2008-2009 NBA Championship, every team is going to come back prepared and ready to go. NBA -- Where Amazing Happens.
Springfield, Mass. is the only place where this reconciliation could happen. Watching Isiah Thomas present John Stockton at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony was proof to me that Springfield was basketball heaven, a place where things just come full circle. Some of you may not share my frame of reference, growing up as an avid fan of Detroit Piston basketball in the late 80′s and early 90′s. The Bad Boy teams were part of a new physical style of basketball that was already being played on the blacktops in every urban neighborhood.
So, you can imagine my disappointment in September 1991 when the 1992 U.S. Basketball Team--The Dream Team--was announced and Isiah, 2-time NBA Champion and perennial All-Star, was not on the final roster. He was unfortunately beaten out by Stockton. Stockton was, in his own right, a great player but the consensus in the basketball world was that Isiah was snubbed. Reading this post, you may think, Isiah obviously took the high-road because here he was introducing Stockton at the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Well that isn’t exactly how the story went.
November 15, 1991 … Isiah is roughly two months removed from learning his fate of being snubbed from Dream Team I. The Pistons are playing a home game that night against what would turn to be his nemesis and Dream Team I replacement, Stockton and the Utah Jazz. What ensued was a very personal and determined exploitation of the weaknesses in Stockton’s game. Stockton’s inability to stay in front of Isiah lead him to falling victim to a 44-point performance from Isiah (editor’s note: Darrell Walker had 15 pts, 9 ast, and 7 reb; Melvin Underwood note: Lance Blanks borrowed my Al B. Sure leather trench coat and never returned it). That was topped with an eight-point loss to the Pistons. Stockton tried to steer clear of the controversy, but Isiah’s pride was hurt and he wanted the public to know that this was a grave mistake. Mission accomplished.
It would be all well and good if it stopped there. But it didn’t. On December 14, 1991, Isiah and the Pistons traveled to Salt Lake to play the Jazz. This game started very similar to the way the first game ended. Isiah was attacking the rim and really taking the ball to Stockton. He recorded 6 points and 2 assists in the first eight minutes of the game. Whispers at the scorers table and media row were citing the previous meeting and Isiah’s displeasure with being left off of the Dream Team. That’s when this happened:
Jazz forward Karl Malone took matters into his own hands and decided to send a message that Isiah was not going to embarrass his teammate again. The result was 40 stitches over Isiah’s left eye. The next year, Isiah dropped another 40 on John Stockton’s face in their first meeting, but talk of the snubbing and the growing beef between Isiah and Stockton dissipated over time.
Today, it seems that the Hall of Fame helps pro basketball players put things aside for the love of the game. It was very classy for Isiah and Stockton to put their shaky past behind them and honor each other as great basketball players. And honestly, Kenny Badd could have played point guard for Dream Team I and the result would have still been the same: gold medals going away. At the end of the day, no one can take anything away from either of these guys. They were truly great and pillars of the game. And it is refreshing to see their relationship come full circle in a manner that shows the humility and class of both individuals. I guess Springfield truly is basketball heaven.
I know ya’ll done checked your traps on the latest with your boy Richard Jefferson. Apparently he left his woman at the altar on the day of the wedding (cold-bloooodddeedd). I got the scoop from my man “Splash” Gordon Mills, who told me that the dude just didn’t show up. Funny, but I wasn’t surprised. I couldn’t imagine being married with all the money these cats are making. Hell, my first wife worked at the post office. I was trying to make ends meet. When your bread is long and strong and the ends is meeting like a mother-father, why would you need a fox in your ear. So, I’m thinking, cool, until I got a call from Kenny Badd.
He’s like word on the street and apparently the real reason for Jefferson’s “player option” was two un-named NBA players were spotted test driving the goods on a sex tape. Wow, a sex tape. I mean the closest thing we had to that was when there was a courtroom artist sketch of Mel Turpin and Spencer Haywood playing the old 2-3 on Calvin “Hook” Hammonds’ old lady. I couldn’t imagine if that had made it to the bootleg man at Penn Mar Station.
Whether it’s true or not, there is no way you get that close to getting married without knowing you are marrying a freak. I mean you have to know, especially with all of the reckless stories with loose ends. For example, the few times you go out and she introduces you to some dude whose shirt is only buttoned at his naval. Or the time she went out of town with her girlfriends and you later see pics of them, Rick Fox and J.T. Taylor passed out in the VIP at the Ritz. I mean, I can’t be the only one who knows the 10 ground rules before proposing to a chick.
Okay, so Kenny Badd has me checking the traps on this free agency stuff, trying to find some angle for my righteous opinion on this Division II blog. So, I was looking at a few salaries and salary cap situations and nodding off at all the lingo associated with all the bread these young boys is making. Then I saw something that jumped out at me: “Larry Bird rights.” So, imagine my confusion as I see salary conditions named after the same chump I faked out of his Converse in ’78 at the Nate Thurmond National Basketball Skills Academy with the No-Look-Around-The-World bounce pass. So, I connected with that jive turkey Kenny Badd and had him shoot me an explanation of these “Larry Bird rights.” Here’s what he sent back:
This exception allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents, up to the player’s maximum salary. The player essentially must play for three seasons without being waived or changing teams as a free agent. This means a player can obtain “Bird rights” by playing under three one-year contracts, a single contract of at least three years, or any combination. It also means that when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him. These contracts can be up to six years in length. A player can receive raises up to 10.5% of the salary in the first season of the contract. This exception is known as the Larry Bird exception because the Celtics were the first team allowed to exceed the cap to keep their own free agent, and the player happened to be Bird.
My first call was to my former agent, Kevin Chavous, to ask if there was any way I can re-coup my Bird money from the Milwaukee Bucks. After he hung up on me, I started to get a little upset, because in ’86 my salary went from $87,000 to $58,000. Thus, I had to drink cold Riunite at home rather than cold brews with the fellas at the club. So that got me thinking, what I could have done with that salary increase:
As the Washington Wizards’ offseason that never happened reached its bitter winter on draft night, I was hopeful confident that the Wizards would right the ship by hitting the ground running on July 1, the first day of free agency in the NBA. So, July 1 hits and … nothing. July 2 … not even a mention. By now I am baffled because I know the Wizards don’t think they can play the MCI Center with Gilbert Arenas and Young Money (Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, and Randy Foye) in the backcourt. That would be a disaster. I know they have to be looking to insert one more big man into the rotation or a solid wing off the bench, right?
Wrong.
The Wizards have a $75 million payroll for 2009. The NBA’s luxury tax threshold is $71.15 million. So, the Wizards can’t sign anyone without paying nearly double for them. And just like you are doing right now, I was kicking myself because I know what they paid for Arenas and Antawn Jamison prior to last season. Then I discovered something that I took as a typo or a site malfunction: a Mike James player option for next season.
If there was any doubt over whether Kobe won, it should be completely erased after news that none other than the diabolical one himself, Ron Artest, has reportedly agreed to join Beans in Hollywood and effectively cancel Christmas for just about every other team in the Western Conference, save maybe the Spurs and Nuggets.
Trevor Ariza is going to take Artest’s spot in Houston, but good luck with that. He’s leaving a non-pressure situation where he had the fortune of being the fourth option, kinda like James Posey with the Celtics in ’08, to a situation where he’ll be expected to deliver on the offensive end on a nightly basis. Rockets fans enjoy your meager helping of 14 and 6 per next season.
Hmmm, this is a pretty good splash for Detroit. Joe Dumars, once again, is on his game. He fires a lame duck coach one day and signs legitimate talent the next. I really like Charlie Villanueva next to Antonio McDyess in the frontcourt, but I am skeptical about how Ben Gordon fits into that backcourt. I am sure he will be a liability at point guard, and I know he is open to coming off the bench, but I am not sure that Rip Hamilton will be as open to Gordon eating his 4th quarter minutes as Kirk Hinrich was in Chicago.
Also, the Clips clear the way for top-pick Blake Griffin to start from day one by reportedly dealing Zach Randolph to the Grizzlies in exchange for Quentin Richardson.
Scoop Jackson’s piece on the Rockets in lieu of Yao Ming’s injury, really puts things in perspective. I mean, its okay for Tracy McGrady to steal money from a playoff team, but stealing money from a lottery team should keep him out of the local clubs for a while.
Watching Top 100 in NFL history on NFLN. Zero chance there are 94 players greater than Larry Allen. Should've been top 50, easy.about 17 hours agofrom Echofon
I want to go to Green Bay with my clippers and shave that hair beanie off of the back of Mike Tirico's dome. Go 'head with that joint!!12:05:20 AM August 27, 2010from Echofon
They're playing "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers on the plane before takeoff. I see a lot of confused faces.04:40:07 PM August 22, 2010from Echofon
