Today’s art comes from a buddy in France.
My question is: Do they serve the Royale with Cheese? Cuz I damn sure ain’t putting no bleu cheese on no burger, you hear me?
If you watched the Spurs destroy the Wizards on Saturday night, you also saw Tim Duncan crumple to the floor with a twisted knee and stay there for several minutes before leaving the floor. If he is seriously injured, you can be damn sure the Spurs will keep that a closely guarded secret for as long as possible.
True story: Gregg Popovich was once a military intelligence officer (stationed in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, hmmm), and he does not believe in giving out information. He believes in gathering it, exploiting it, using it to win and then enjoying a bottle of one of the finest wines on earth.
He has a wine cellar, the contents of which are like a Who’s Who list of Best Vintages, Worldwide, Past 100 Years. A couple years back I gave him a tip about an auction at Sotheby’s taking place the next day, and Popovich decided to take a walk up the Upper East Side of Manhattan to check out the goods.
“It took me about five minutes to convince the man in charge that I was not some joker. But once I convinced him I knew what I was talking about, he showed by the best stuff,” Popovich told me that night.
So there is your previously untold Spurs story, and we hope it mitigates the pain and uncertainty Spurs fans will be feeling as they leave on their Rodeo Road Trip.
Knowing Popovich a little bit, I’ll say this: It wouldn’t surprise me if he left Duncan back home for the entire nine-game trip, has Duncan sit out the All-Star game, and then brings him back Feb. 27 in San Antonio against the Suns.
If giving Duncan the month of February off allows the Spurs to be a better team in March and April (and May and June, of course), don’t put it past Popovich to do it.
Maybe he can even let Duncan have the keys to the wine cellar. I’d imagine there’s a nice HDTV and a comfy couch in there.
As it pertains to these rankings, it means Tony Parker is going to have an opportunity to make a strong case that he will ultimately be deserving of the award. We’ll be keeping a close watch on what Le BurgerMeister does over this Rodeo Road Trip. (Hat tip again to my bud in Paris. Check out his band, Carousel Vertigo).
For now, Parker keeps his previous spot.
On to the rankings …