Memo to Dennis Rodman: Dictators don’t have friends. Kim Jong-Un is using you. While I don’t know the North Korean dictator personally, I find it pretty hard to believe that Kim Jong-un is your “friend for life.” I don’t think that he is available to discuss a personal problem or offer advice on a business matter. I am pretty sure that he is using you for his own ends, not the other way around. While you may somehow believe that you are
Kyrie Irving spent a piece of New Year’s Day having an MRI performed on his knee. He went down against the Indiana Pacers yesterday, and he said he “heard something pop.” That’s usually not good, although the MRI revealed a mere contusion, meaning 2013 did not end with yet another potential landscape-altering injury. Al Horford? Out for the season, joining Derrick Rose and Brook Lopez. Russell Westbrook and Kobe Bryant? See you after the All-Star Game — if your rehabs go according to
As the NBA tries unsuccessfully to manufacture excitement on Christmas for its slate of games, the real truth is impossible to ignore. The NBA is becoming less compelling to watch because there is no one to hate anymore. Since the 1980s, when the league began expanding from 23 teams to the present 30, the rivalries between teams have been on the slippery slope to insignificance. The league schedule has become just a gigantic list of games with no grudge matches and
Today’s big story is last night’s game between the Pacers and Heat for early bragging/validation rights. And the boss was not happy with what went down at the end, with the officials swallowing their whistles as LeBron clearly fouled Paul George on a game-tying 3-point attempt by Paul George just before the final buzzer. The Joey Crawford conspiracy theories will only continue to grow from here. Those are the only viable teams with a chance of winning the Eastern Conference, and the media
Rudy Gay is seeing North America the old-fashioned way, by getting traded a lot. As the public marvels at all of the amazing things about pro sports, getting traded can definitely be one of the crappy parts. In theory, sports trades are supposed to be a win/win with both sides getting players they want. The reality can be quite different. In today’s NBA, convoluted salary cap rules make trades a little more interesting. Typically, trades involve a couple of principles and then a
Happy Thanksgiving from the Marriott. As the marketers get more and more influence over the business that is the NBA, there are more and more changes that benefit the fans and the networks. They don’t benefit the players or their families very much … but that isn’t much of an issue. Lets face it. For most teams, it is getting harder and harder to find time to yourselves on TV. The NBA used to start training camp in the middle of September and
David Robinson played 14 years for the San Antonio Spurs, won a championship in his final season and rode off into the sunset as a basketball hero. Julius Erving played all 11 of his NBA years in Philadelphia and was honored in every arena where the 76ers played as he headed into retirement. While that may seem like the norm for star athletes, the truth is very different. This season, one MVP announced his retirement, while several surefire Hall of Famers are nearing the
Like many sports fans, I have been following the situation with the Miami Dolphins that describes an incident as “hazing.” Two teammates, by most accounts friends, get into something that causes one to quit the team and the other to be suspended indefinitely without pay. Everyone in the organization from the coaches to the general manager is in fear for their jobs. When I read the articles trying to make sense of the situation I go from bewilderment to anger to head-scratching.