NBA fans do an awful job of protecting the image of their favorite sport. This is not the NFL, which has been America’s pastime for a generation and can do no wrong in the eyes of its fans. The only time the NFL has an image problem is when a storm affects satellite reception. This is also not baseball, which has a considerable image problem with its collection of prima donnas on PEDS. But it also has more than a century of
Kobe Reminiscences on Celtics-Lakers Rivalry You and I weren’t the only ones that were disappointed when the Boston Celtics shipped off Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett this past summer. Kobe Bryant was right there with us. Their departure not only had a domino effect on the competitive landscape of the Eastern Conference, but the entire NBA. The Celtics would no longer be a threat, and that would mean the revived Celtics-Lakers rivalry that this generation finally got to experience to the fullest would also
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
Remember back in October, when the handicappers in Vegas said the Philadelphia 76ers would win about 16 or 17 games? And remember in November, when the 76ers started their season with three straight wins, beating the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls with Derrick Rose? How are those 17 wins looking now? Without the Hubble telescope, the Sixers can’t see them. The small sample size of the season’s first week – three surprising wins, a rookie as Player of the Week – is
If the Boston Celtics are actually tanking, they are doing a really bad job of it. The Celtics played three very different kinds of basketball games over the previous five days – I was at two of them – that showed a lot about the way this team is operating. And giving away wins for ping-pong balls isn’t part of the plan. On Friday, Boston scored the first 14 points against Denver and led 39-15 after the first quarter. The Celtics nearly gave
Remember that streak of games hot-shooting LeBron James put together last February? Well, he’s doing it again. Much earlier in the season. And for a longer stretch. And if he keeps it up, it will become historic. Because since the ABA-NBA merger, no wing player or point guard has scored this much while shooting this well. Not Dr. J. Not even Michael Jordan. Yes, really. Through the first month of the season, James is third in the league in scoring at 26.2 points per
We are all familiar with the Spurs and their uncanny efficiency. Are you familiar with AAU basketball? I have coached it at the high school level for the last three years. And one thing I have learned is that with just four hours of weekly practice time followed by four games every weekend, if you don’t have definitive, well-drilled schemes on both offense and defense, you have no chance to compete. However, if you have a group that is committed to a
So I’ve been playing NBA 2K14 for a few weeks now, and I’m into late January in my Association mode. I’m playing as the Mavericks, for reasons I can’t really explain except by saying I thought playing as Monta Ellis would be fun. And it is. What’s more fun, though, is making minor trades and tweaking players’ minute allotments. Like, I just traded DeJuan Blair for Peyton Siva and Kyle Singler so I could reallocate Blair’s six minutes a game to