One stock interview question that I really like is “who was your first favorite player?” It seems like everyone has a different answer.For me, it’s Steve Nash. Yeah, okay, I’m young and I got into basketball a bit late. But there’s no denying the magic that was Nash in Phoenix, driving into the lane and finding the open man without ever looking at him. Also, he’s a Canadian, so it was basically meant to be.
It’s especially interesting when you ask people who don’t even particularly like basketball. A friend of mine once told me how much he liked Allen Iverson, just kind of out of the blue during a game of NBA Jam. Now Iverson is officially retired and Nash seems to be on his last legs. This must be what getting old is like (says the college student).
To take your mind of the inevitable progression of time, here’s the latest news from around the NBA:
Ric Bucher of CSN Bay Area tells us what Dwight Howard wanted if he was going to stay in LA: “Talks with various people close to the situation make it clear there were two prerequisites for Dwight Howard to remain a Laker: fire Mike D’Antoni and amnesty, or at the very least muzzle, Kobe Bryant.The Lakers apparently asked Dwight to be patient on both fronts for at least another season, telling him “hey, you’re going to have to gut this out another year,” a source said, although it sounds as if VP of basketball ops Jim Buss isn’t ready to abandon Kobe anytime soon. “Dwight didn’t want to play with Kobe for 2-3 more years,” Buss said. “I’m going to stand behind Kobe because of his history with the franchise.” It would seem, then, with all that happened, the Lakers had the wherewithal to keep Howard if they had desired; they simply found the price too high.”- Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury-News asked Stephen Curry if it’s possible for him to be effective on the defensive end with the offensive load he carries. Here’s Curry’s answer: “No excuses. It’s definitely possible. When I’m in the game, I’m not really thinking, ‘I’m tired. Let me milk it on defense.’ I’ve just got to dig deep. That’s what you prepare in the summer for, to battle through fatigue like that. So I think it is possible. I’m not going to be defensive player of the year. But hopefully I can be top 10 (among point guards) and be able to disrupt some of the best point guards in the world.”
Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com thinks Jason Collins will land a contract: “Will Collins, who reportedly met with the Detroit Pistons a few weeks ago, receive a contract offer for the 2013-14 season? An informal survey of league executives at Las Vegas Summer League suggests that Collins, who remains a free agent, stands a good chance to be in uniform on opening night this fall as teams flesh out their rosters with 12th, 13th and 14th men in the weeks leading up to training camp. “He’s a September player,” one front office exec said. “He’s a positive locker room influence and still plays big. The league likes him.” “- Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard reports on a former Orange star getting a shot in the NBA: “James Southerland, the former Syracuse University basketball player, will go to training camp with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, according to his agent. Southerland, a 6-foot-8 forward, was not selected in the NBA’s June draft. After the draft, Southerland played for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA’s Orlando Summer League and then with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League. Southerland scored 11 points in Golden State’s win over the Charlotte Bobcats in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Summer League. That performance might have garnered Southerland some attention from the Bobcats.”
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Was catching up w/ Scott Machado last night. Said #Knicks training camp was option until Udrih signed. Might do 1 year abroad. Has 4 offers.
— Jared Zwerling (@JaredZwerling) August 23, 2013
Allen Iverson officially retired recently. SB Nation’s Paul Flannery has an excellent piece recalling just what A.I. was in his prime. Here’s an excerpt: “The building shook. That’s what I remember most about Allen Iverson. Beyond the iffy shot selection and the cultural implications of becoming the NBA’s resident superstar anarchist, Iverson made the damn building shake. He would get the ball on the left wing, or more likely bring it up his own self, and rock his dribble back and forth a few times. That brought the crowd to attention because they knew as well as the poor bastard guarding him that something was about to happen. Iverson would shake a few times — the signal that the crossover was coming — and then he’d lay it on everyone: his man, his team, the Philly crowd.”
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