A well-proportioned, wise Italian man with a radio show in New York once told me and a listening audience of probably hundreds that the NBA “goes into the clouds” in February and March. I can’t really remember his name, OK? So let’s just call him Ike Manfresca. Manfresca’s quote has always stuck with me, because: (a) it was so strange and (b) it’s the perfect way to describe the seasonal malaise that rolls in around this time of year, like a
In case you missed it, the Heat and Thunder both lost last night (as did the Lakers, but that was kind of expected). That’s the third time both teams have lost on the same night this season. The Heat lost to the Spurs in a rematch of last year’s Finals that was nowhere near as close as those Finals, and the Thunder went to the wire against the upstart Phoenix Suns. I caught the end of that Thunder/Suns game, so I
It’s a two-man race. We all can agree on that, right? But who is the more worthy candidate: LeBron James? Or Kevin Durant? This week, we let y’all have your say as we post a poll within this post. You can even vote for somebody else if you so choose, but the majority of folks will vote for the player who leads the league in scoring or the player who went off for 61 points on Monday night. Once you cast your ballot,
I went on the radio in Phoenix this morning and played party-pooper, because I don’t think qualifying for the playoffs is such a grand goal. It is a nice goal, don’t get me wrong, especially for an overachieving team like the Suns. But the ultimate goal is to win a championship, and if the Phoenix Suns could have acquired Pau Gasol from the Los Angeles Lakers for the insurance-covered contract of Emeka Okafor, along with a first-round draft pick, they should
The Oscars are over, and since I didn’t watch them or see any of the nominated movies, let’s get this Oscar-themed edition of the Most Improved Player Rankings under way! Because nothing says “balanced sportswriter” like a column full of misinformed pop culture references! The envelopes, please … Best Actor: Anthony Davis. This award goes to the best player in our group, and Davis is the clear choice there. He’s already one of the league’s best big men, and Pelicans fans have already started
I mentioned last weekend that I’ve been watching old NBA games on YouTube, and while Karl Malone, for obvious name-related reasons, is probably never going to be surpassed as my all-time favorite basketball player, Hakeem Olajuwon is making it pretty close. I mean, look at this: [Read more…]
This keeps happening: I watch the Knicks lose, then I switch the channel and marvel at an ex-Knick leading his team. It happened again Monday night, when New York was losing to Dallas on Dirk Nowitzki’s lucky bounce at the buzzer, and one click of the remote control brought me to Clippers-Pelicans, where Jamal Crawford was burying another seven 3-pointers. Crawford was once a Knick. So was David Lee. And Zach Randolph. And Channing Frye. Any of those guys might make a nice
It’s part of my nightly routine. First, I sit on the couch and watch hours of NBA basketball, blankly staring at the screen like a zombie or Kevin from The Office. Then, after the final buzzer sounds on the last West Coast game, I flip over to channel 7 and zone out during a late-night mini-marathon of Kevin and all of his friends on The Office. It’s gotten to the point where last night, I dreamt that Dwight crashed the Most Improved Player