A couple of months ago, I wrote a column about how NBA commissioner David Stern’s voiding of the original Chris Paul trade had made a mockery of the New Orleans Hornets, who following the approved Chris Paul trade were making no effort to compete. There was predictable backlash, mostly from Hornets fans who disagreed with my premise that making the playoffs – no matter how short your stay – is always better than intentionally stinking up the joint for several years
When is the last time we saw the combination of a shooting guard and a small forward completely and utterly dominate a game the way Dwyane Wade and LeBron James did on Thursday night? His Airness and Robin Scottie Pippen certainly come to mind. Back in the 90’s, the NBA and its fans saw Michael Jordan and Pippen display unparalleled athleticism and skill that allowed the tandem to terrorize their opposition with incredible offensive games. Longtime Pacers fans, along with Larry Bird – now the
The series between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers has been filled with unexpected drama and extracurricular activity with all the trash-talking and posturing – mostly from the Pacers. Things took a turn for the worst in Game 5 when Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough “made a play on the ball” but also swiped hard enough at the head of Dwyane Wade to draw blood from the All-Star guard. What resulted from that play was retaliation by Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who less than
Before the series between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers began, there was some notable trash-talking on the Pacers side from both the players and coach Frank Vogel – for which the coach promptly was fined $15,000 – calling the Heat floppers and actors of sorts. That’s all well and good, but Pacers forward Danny Granger has taken things to another level on the court. He has constantly gotten in the face of LeBron James often looking ready to brawl –
It has now been 22 1/2 months since LeBron James abandoned his home state to take his talents to South Beach. He did so in the hope of winning championships with a better supporting cast. What he didn’t anticipate was how much weaker that supporting cast would become if one of the big three were to miss time due to injury, which is exactly what the Heat are going through right now. Unfortunately for King James, no one is feeling sorry for
Yesterday was another morning after for LeBron James. The morning after James played the entire second half, defended every position on the floor except center and collected 28 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists, doing all he could to pick up the slack for missing All-Star teammate Chris Bosh and struggling superstar teammate Dwyane Wade, who missed 14 shots, including a potential go-ahead layup in the final minute. It was also the morning after James missed five free throws, including
The Lakers looked tired and got absolutely manhandled by the Thunder on Monday night. If that game was any indication, the Clippers may be in for a long night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal vs. the Spurs. After just one day of rest since eliminating the Grizzlies on Sunday, the Clippers will go head to head against the well-rested San Antonio Spurs. We just saw what happens when a team with one day of rest goes up against a
