Among the monumental sports topics that are debated everywhere – from local fine drinking establishments to radio and television shows where participants spend hours shouting at each other – is the issue of dynasties. In sports, identifying and labeling dynasties is a must. It’s part of our DNA. And then when a dynasty is established and accepted as fact, it must be compared to other dynasties. That is mandatory. It is what makes sports sports. [Read more…]
Tonight in Miami, LeBron James has another “Decision.” This one is not about where James is going to play, however. Tonight is about how he is going to play. And this decision is tougher, because he doesn’t have days to think about it. He has about an hour, tops. [Read more…]
Tuesday afternoon, while everyone was either lauding the San Antonio Spurs (after their series sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies) or perpetuating the hype machine behind the Miami Heat (preceding their Game 4 contest against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse), the Atlanta Hawks and general manager Danny Ferry made a move to improve the future of their franchise. The Hawks hired a new head coach.
When the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals, it was considered a championship coronation for long-time Spurs center David Robinson. With plenty of help from second-year power forward Tim Duncan, that title validated Robinson’s career. But more importantly, it spawned a run of sustained success that is incredibly unique in the NBA, especially for a small-market franchise like the Spurs. [Read more…]
This summer, when your favorite team’s owner or GM tells you a certain player is financially out of reach, here’s how you know he is lying. His lips are moving. NBA business is booming, folks. And not just for the so-called big markets. Take a quick look at the conference finals, which feature four teams from middle to small markets collecting millions for every home playoff game. Take a look at the Sacramento Kings, who were just sold for a record $525 million
The evolution of the Memphis Grizzlies franchise since its infant days in Vancouver is really something to marvel at when you consider where they are as of today. They are currently on their 7th head coach in their franchise’s history with Lionel Hollins and are out of the first round for just the second time in their 18-year history. If you parlay that with the fact that Memphis traded their top scorer, Rudy Gay, at the end of January for Ed
The sight of Tim Duncan sitting on the bench during deciding moments of the Spurs-Warriors game Thursday sent me scrambling to the computer. The situation had to be unprecedented. When in playoff history has a player of Duncan’s stature sat down with the game on the line? Did that happen to Michael, Magic or Larry? What about Wilt or Russell? Kareem? Shaq? Kobe? I didn’t even make it halfway when I stopped and started giggling. Michael Jordan sitting for the last
Uvo, take me back to 2011. (Sorry, I’ve been watching too many Blake Griffin commercials.) Just two years ago, the eighth-seeded Grizzlies stunned the top-seeded Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, sending San Antonio back to its rocking chairs a little bit earlier than anyone expected. Memphis used a breakout performance by Zach Randolph (31 points, 11 boards in Game 6) to close out the Spurs, then took the Thunder to seven games before bowing out in the West semifinals. Back
