In watching all of this Laker drama play out, I had a tough time not invoking memories of a former Bush administration official who shares a name with the recently deposed coach of the Lakers. Michael Brown was the FEMA director when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2006. Brown was famous for being the recipient of President Bush’s famous compliment, “You’re doing a heckuva job Brownie.” Not long after this, Brown was forced to resign as the director of FEMA for an incompetent response
ATLANTA — Sometimes you can be close and still smoke your cigar. Take LeBron James’ Friday night against the Hawks, for example. Tonight marked the twentieth time in James’ career that he finished either an assist or a rebound shy of a triple-double. But with 13.7 second left, nine assists to his credit and his Miami Heat up 91-89, LeBron rose up for a jumper that hit nothing but white nylon on its way down. Another triple-double would have to wait. That’s
Carmelo’s Knicks Look Good NEW YORK — At 3-0, the New York Knicks are the NBA’s lone unbeaten team, but their battle for respect is far from over. For the most part, the national media has done its best to rationalize the Knicks’ good start. The Miami Heat didn’t want to play after sitting in traffic on a bus for 2 hours, and the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t have Andrew Bynum. Never mind the fact that the Heat and
This guy also had a higher ranking week ago, like the Lakers and Thunder OK, who had the No. 3 Knicks starting 3-0, the No. 15 Thunder and No. 20 Celtics falling on their faces and the No. 24 Lakers going into the toilet? Not me. On the other hand, here at the World’s Greatest NBA Rankings (According to Us) we don’t just rank teams, we provide solutions to their problems! (We also take them one season at a
MIAMI – Here’s how you know it’s a new day for the Miami Heat: They lead the league in points per game and rank second-to-last in points allowed. “We make our mark defensively,” MVP LeBron James said. He’s right. But maybe that’s about to change a little bit. Maybe. For years and years, the Heat have prided themselves on defense. That’s the culture. This is the team that gets its defensive philosophy from Pat “Contest Every Possession” Riley. It is defensive-minded right down
You can point to a handful of reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of panic. Dwight Howard missed all of training camp and most of preseason recovering from back surgery. Kobe Bryant has a sprained foot that requires him to wear a walking boot. Steve Nash is out for a while with a fracture in his fibula. That lack of continuity led to 11 straight losses – all eight in the preseason, which the Lakers dismissed as games that don’t count,
NEW YORK – When you’re the New York Knicks, you’ll take any piece of positive history you can get. And after the Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 100-84, on Sunday afternoon, they have opened a season with back-to-back victories for the first time this century. That the two victories came against two quality opponents in the Miami Heat – whom the Knicks defeated Friday night – and the 76ers should give Knicks fans more gooey feelings of positivity. Mike
If Steve Nash had a different set of skills, it wouldn’t be a reach to suggest he might have been David Copperfield. Nash is perhaps the most unlikely looking franchise player in NBA history – a 6-3, 195-pound guard who seems much shorter and slighter when mingling with the giants who usually dominate NBA games. Nash is so slick that he makes us forget how good he is. It seems, for example, that a long time has passed since the Phoenix Suns