Various athletes gathered in Michael Jordan’s “The Steakhouse NYC” on a rainy Tuesday morning to promote a new form of collectibles released by Steiner Sports – leading producer of authentic hand-signed collectibles – called “In their Own Words”.
When it comes to sports collectibles, we typically think of autographed memorabilia. Brandon Steiner, the C.E.O. of Steiner Sports, went further with the idea by having notable athletes describe an iconic moment in their careers – captured in photo – in their own words, hand-written and signed. “Game-changer in sports memorabilia”, as he calls it. Here are some examples of what these babies look like:
Pretty stunning, they are.
“Collecting is all about having a piece to recall your fondest memories,” says Steiner. “’In Their Own Words’ will change the business. It used to be about the moment, now it’s about the entire story. The players will describe in their own words how they felt at that magical moment.”
To help promote these items, NBA legends Magic Johnson and Dennis Rodman were at the scene to discuss some of their memorable moments at the height of their careers. Johnson recalled the All-Star game after he was tested positive for HIV and how Rodman’s approach in that game against him helped the world understand his condition a little better.
“Dennis and I, we played a big part in it: When I came back and played in that All-Star game and Dennis really was all over me and was physical, he actually, both Commissioner Stern, Dennis, myself and the other guys that played in that game helped the world understand that it was okay to play against me. Nothing was going to happen. I think that single game changed the mindset of the world when you’re dealing with HIV, so I want to thank Dennis again as I told him in that game because he came out, was the same Dennis, played physical against me, and I think we went and changed the world with that. That was one of my greatest moment, in terms of [dealing with] a challenge.”
Rodman also chimed in on the particular story.
“I just wanted to play basketball so much. Even though I didn’t have any knowledge about HIV or AIDS – I knew it was a deadly disease – but I didn’t care because I wanted to play so bad and play against Magic Johnson. I just said you know what? I don’t care what’s going on, man. I still love you, brother. I’m gonna play against you no matter what, brother… We are a family organization, it’s a family atmosphere and Magic has taught me a lot.”
Onto more recently related matters, both Johnson and Rodman were briefly available to the media prior to the main event, and there were plenty of questions asked about the New York Knicks, given that the event took place only several blocks away from Madison Square Garden.
Rodman, who had arrived early and just finished a number of interviews with various members of the press, got off his seat saying “Man, I hate this media shit man. I hate it.” Of course, he was then taken to a second location where another group of media folks (including me) were ready to ask him some more questions. You can imagine the joy on the former star’s face as we gathered around. He was sporting a Phil Jackson Knicks jersey, making it that much easier to ask him questions about his former coach, Derek Fisher, the Triangle and more. Rodman had plenty to say about how bad he feels for Jackson, the questionable decision to bring in Fisher, the lack of talent outside of Carmelo Anthony and why it doesn’t seem as though anyone would really want to play with him. Neil Best of Newsday provided all the notable quotes, as below:
“I think he just feels like, you know, wow, I thought I came in here to try to do a great job and try to revitalize the city of New York,” Rodman said. “He didn’t expect this. I saw him a couple of times on TV when I was in L.A. and I’m like, I know what you feel like, Phil.
“You came to be the savior and all of a sudden it’s like, ugh, then you went and got Derek Fisher. Really, is he coaching? Is Derek Fisher coaching? I don’t get it. I don’t know what’s up with that team, man. You’ve got Carmelo [Anthony] and after that who else do you got?
“They’re not running the triangle. Derek Fisher’s not really coaching. I know Phil is trying to throw his input in the background but who expected this from Phil? They expected him, we’re going to give you $15 million a year for the next six years and this team is – wow – they might not even make the playoffs.”
[…]
“How are you going to play with a superstar like Carmelo Anthony when he wants to shoot the ball all the time and everybody else has to play their role?” he said. “How are you going to do that? Phil Jackson did that with Michael Jordan at the beginning and guess what happened?. He put a team around Michael Jordan and everybody fit right in.
“Everyone knew who the boss was, that was him, Michael Jordan. Everybody knew who Kobe [Bryant] was. Kobe and Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal], they played their roles. Who is the man here in New York besides Carmelo? Nobody wants to play together with Carmelo, it seems like.”
Rodman knows a lot about the game of basketball. During the interview, he said he picked up the Triangle offense in 15 minutes, and it’s hard to believe he’s lying about that, given the things he was able to accomplish in that system right off the bat with the Chicago Bulls (he joined them in 1995 and proceeded to win three consecutive championships while facilitating the offense and putting up herculean rebounding numbers). That said, it’s clear he’s not really paying attention to or watching the Knicks play right now because if he did, he would know the many things that are wrong with them on both ends of the floor and the poor job Fisher has done at various times with his rotations.
In case you were wondering how Rodman would describe the Triangle, here it is:
“It’s not that difficult; it’s a triangle,” he said. “Do this, do this, go to the corner, you go over this way, that way, boom, you sit right here, post guys over here, over there. It’s a triangle, boom, boom, like that.
“Boom, boom, boom, like a triangle. That’s all it is. And the players outside have to do their thing, also boom, make it a triangle, come across, boom, split, go over this way, triangle.
“It’s not that difficult, because everyone has an opportunity to touch the ball and shoot it but it seems like when they go through the first formation it comes back to Carmelo Anthony and everything stops, right? Everything stops. What are you going to do?”
He’s certainly right about where the ball stops most of the time. The Knicks do try to move the ball often and it does lead to some open looks here and there, but most of the time, it’s all seemingly done without an actual purpose other than acting like they’re doing something very intricate when in fact, it ends up being an isolation in the post for Anthony or Amare Stoudemire. Even when there is an iso, it should come within the flow of the offense. Unfortunately, that’s simply not the case right now for New York. Of course, the bigger issue for them appears to be more on the defensive side, but that’s a story for another day.
Moving onto much better things, I had the goal of getting a decent story about Steve Kerr as a player and what may have ultimately driven him to become a wildly-successful coach of the Golden State Warriors – a team off to a league-best and franchise-best 18-2 start. With that in mind, I asked Rodman if Kerr, as a former teammate, ever gave the impression that he could potentially become a terrific NBA coach one day. His response:
“Steve Kerr ain’t coaching shit,” said Rodman. “Steve Kerr’s having a good time. He ain’t coaching. He’s just having a good time. He just sitting there and letting those kids shoot. That’s all he’s doing, man. He’s just sittings there. He ain’t doing no damn thing.”
Rodman clarified himself by saying he was “joking with Steve”, but continued to elaborate on his thoughts about Kerr as a head coach.
“But, you know, he’s never been a coach before, right? Derek Fisher’s never been a coach before, right? Mark Jackson’s never been a coach before but he came in. All these players coming in as coaches and stuff like that and I’m like, you get into a system where you can actually win, where you don’t have to do anything. You just hire a bunch of good assistant coaches, and you’re good to go. You’re good to go. But like I said, me and Steve Kerr have been really good friends. He’s a cool ass guy. We go out sometimes to have a cigar, you know, have a couple of beers or something like that. He’s a cool guy, man.”
Needless to say, I didn’t get the inspiring “locker room story” or something we may not have previously known about Kerr as originally hoped. What did become apparent was that Rodman is not a fan of former players who come into the league as a first-year coach. He flat-out discredited Fisher, and essentially did the same about Kerr.
It’s somewhat of a debatable topic because for Kerr, it’s true that he has hired some of the top assistant coaches in the league for both offense (Alvin Gentry) and defense (Ron Adams), and it’s damn true that he is sitting there, letting “those kids shoot” and having a good time doing it. That said, Kerr is still responsible in terms of managing minutes, the rotation (which has been very interesting thus far and will only get more complicated with the return of David Lee), situational in-game calls (timeouts, schemes, what to run, etc) and more. It was his decision to start Harrison Barnes over Andre Iguodala, and it was his decision to give all the backup center minutes to Marreese Speights rather than Festus Ezeli. These are not easy choices to make as the coach, but Kerr has managed everything beautifully in the first 20 games of the season.
So in general, I’d have to disagree with what Rodman had to say about Kerr’s job as the coach. While he has been blessed with one of the most unique groups in the history of the NBA, it doesn’t mean you get out to an 18-2 start without some terrific moves and adjustments from your head coach. Mark Jackson is the perfect proof of that.
For what it’s worth, Kerr at least partly agrees with what Rodman had to say.
Steve Kerr on Dennis Rodman saying he just sits there and watches his guys make jumpers. “Well, that’s actually pretty accurate.”
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) December 11, 2014
I then had the chance to ask [Magic] Johnson what he thought was the difference between last year and this year for Golden State under Kerr despite having the same core roster (minus David Lee, who has been out all season due to a hamstring injury). His response:
“First, lets give Mark Jackson some credit because he did a nice job setting the tone, and now Steve has taken what is an unbelievable team to another level. What they’re doing now is playing good defense, added with Jackson’s toughness that he gave them. See, one thing he provided them was the toughness, because he is a tough dude and they took on his personality.”
“What Steve has been able to do is get them more layups,” said Johnson. “My problem with Golden State had been, they were never a championship contender until now. Why? They didn’t get enough points in the paint. This year we’re starting to see them do two things better: team defense and getting more points in the paint. So now you look at them, they’re a championship contending team now. For real. So Steve’s done a wonderful job of mixing the talent, opening up the offense where they can get more drives and layups.”
Johnson then went onto give his take on who he believes are the four best teams in the West.
“When you think about them and San Antonio (as contenders)? I think OKC. Before it’s done, is going to have a lot to say about the West. The Clippers. They’ve won about eight or nine in a row and playing really good basketball. To me, those four are the elite teams in the West. Portland, Dallas and Houston will also have something to say, but I think those four are really the teams that could win the championship.”
Everyone in the Warriors organization probably appreciates the Jackson compliment at this point, given Joe Lacob’s recent comments that he has since apologized for and the unnecessary distraction it caused (although it probably wasn’t a huge distraction).
Magic is right about the difference between last year’s team and this year’s team in terms of points in the paint production. They have currently made 251 layups – ranked 12th in the league and accounts for 22.2 percent of the team’s field goal attempts – through 20 games and are on pace to make over 1000. Last year? 777 layups total – fifth worst in the league – on 18.8 percent in attempts. The overall field goal efficiency has also gone up to 48.1 percent, which is second best in the league compared to last year’s 46.2 percent – ranked ninth overall. Of course, it’s all thanks to the new motion offense where the ball and players are constantly moving and creating easy opportunities for everyone from top to bottom. The unselfishness in which they do it is obvious – they are second in the league in assists compared to seventh last year (they’re only second to the Dallas Mavericks, who have played three more games).
The Warriors will always be a jump-shooting team to an extent because they have two of the best in the business in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson when it comes to making shots. It helps that others like Draymond Green (57.2 percent true shooting) and Harrison Barnes (62.3 percent true shooting) – both absolutely awful last year offensively – have also joined in on the party. Last year, Golden State was 10th in the league in true shooting percentage at 55 percent as a team. This year, they are second overall at 57.3 percent. Simply put, they are taking and making easier shots with incredibly talented players who are all willing to sacrifice and play for each other on both ends.
Needless to say, their No. 1 ranked defense is the ultimate backbone of all of this with Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green leading the way. Truth be told, just about everyone else on the team isn’t too shabby on that end either.
With a combination of improved offense and unflappable defense, this Warriors team may be the best that Golden State has ever seen. As good as they’ve looked, though, it’s easy to forget that they are playing for a new coach and have looked very sloppy at times. There is still room for improvement, and we probably haven’t seen them at their absolute best just yet. Hell, they still have to find a way to incorporate Lee into all of this when he returns, and that’s going to bring more positives than negatives at the end of the day (as long as he doesn’t play more than Green, that is).
Some think they will slow down when the schedule gets tougher. Personally, I say they get to 70 wins, health willing. Time will tell what becomes of this unique team when the season is over, but one thing is absolutely clear right now: they are the undisputed No. 1 team in the NBA, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change for the foreseeable future.
As for who belongs in the top four in the West, that’s a discussion best saved for a much later date.
James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.