So far, my preseason predictions look a lot like the Red Wedding scene in Game of Thrones. Jason Kidd as Coach of the Year? Um, probably not. (Although he might well be the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January.) The Nets as NBA champions? Um, sure doesn’t look like it. Not now, anyway. They are three games under .500 (19-22) at the halfway point of the season. But . . . and you knew there was a ‘but’ coming .
These fans are sitting in what used to be press row at Madison Square Garden David Stern never really cared about the people who did more to publicize his product than any other group: the NBA beat writers for the daily newspapers, and later, for the major Web sites. Stern pretended to evince a modicum of interest in his meetings with us, which came a couple times during the year. He’d listen, then basically ignore everything he heard.
I don’t know what the future holds for the general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chris Grant. He’s on the hook for the selection of Anthony Bennett, who, to this point, has done nothing to merit being the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2013. He may have to answer for Tristan Thompson, as well, as the No. 4 pick in 2011. But here’s what he won’t have to do: He won’t have to worry about ever being called a stooge for
With the prospect of a dazzling draft class looming in 2014, the word “tanking” has been as much a part of the NBA lexicon as flopping or fouling. Teams with little to no hope of making the playoffs – let alone doing anything there if they did – should just pack it in now and wait for the lottery in May and the draft in June. That’s where the real bonanza lies this season. Tanking has always been part of the NBA,
What is Rajon Rondo supposed to do? If he were willfully shutting out his teammates, that would be one thing. (He has been known to do that in the past). If he was willfully tuning out his coach, that would be another thing. (He has been known to do that in the past as well). If he was being a locker-room cancer, that would be one more thing. (Hold that unhappy thought!) He has been none of these in 2013 and yet there it
Today is the day when the floodgates open and a whole bunch of NBA players can theoretically start changing addresses and re-assessing their prospects. Basically, just about any player in the league can now be traded, as Dec. 15 is the date when players who signed over the summer can be shipped elsewhere. There will be umpteen trade stories over the next two months, leading up to the actual deadline in February. A fraction of them will have any truth. Already we’ve seen
Two significant things will happen this NBA season: David Stern will step down as commissioner, probably five years too late. And for the first time in 20 years, the 76ers, Celtics and Lakers all will be out of the playoffs. We know the first to be true. The second is pure conjecture, but it’s more likely than not that three of the top NBA franchises in terms of tradition, history, titles and outsized personalities will be booking trips to ping-pong festivities
Less than 14 months ago, the Philadelphia 76ers were four minutes away from a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Four players remain from that team. Less than 14 months ago, the Boston Celtics were one win away from a trip to the NBA Finals. Two players remain from that team. The Celtics prevailed against Philadelphia on that Saturday in May, 2012, with Rajon Rondo recording a triple-double after Paul Pierce fouled out with 4:16 to play and the Celtics clinging to