When Mike Brown was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, there were multiple feelings of déjà vu. One was obvious – Brown was returning to a team that had fired him three years earlier. We have all been here before. But the other was more subtle and had to do with the fundamental reality not only of today’s NBA, but also of today’s professional sports. [Read more…]
LOS ANGELES — I didn’t set out to major in Kobe Bryant, having long since graduated when he showed up here at 17. Things just led that way. I covered his father, Joe, whom he called Jellybean, as a 76ers rookie in the 1970s. I knew the family from Baker League games, where I met Joe’s gregarious father, Big Joe. After not having seen Joe for decades, I ran into him at the 1995 Adidas camp at Fairleigh Dickinson where his
Far be it for me to criticize the selection process for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. I was once one of the 24 voters. I served a three-year term and kept my mouth shut. I know people on various committees right now and they keep their mouths shut. That’s the way the Hall of Fame wants it. If given the chance, perhaps I would change the voting procedure. Maybe make the panel more than 24 people. Make sure it
Clutch sharpshooter Reggie Miller is among four first-time finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The list of 12 finalists for the 2012 Hall class was announced Friday at All-Star Weekend in Orlando, Fla. Now an analyst for TNT, Miller did not make the list of finalists a year ago, when Dennis Rodman was inducted. Other first-timers among the 12 finalists announced Friday at All-Star Weekend in Orlando, Fla. are former NBA coach Bill Fitch, current Louisville coach Rick Pitino