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
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
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, rumors have been rampant around the league throughout the day. Can Cleveland find a taker for Luol Deng? How serious is Sacramento about moving MIP candidate Isaiah Thomas? Will the New York Knicks finally trade Iman Shumpert? Those are some of the many burning questions as general managers try to determine what will be the best course of action for their respective franchises. Some minor deals have already gone down on Wednesday, and plenty more
This column is supposed to be about improvement, so let’s start it off by declaring that Saturday night’s Slam Dunk Contest was without a doubt the most un-improved thing in the history of All-Star Weekend. Seriously, what the hell happened there? After Paul George, John Wall and Damian Lillard – three bona fide stars in the league – actually decided that being considered one of the world’s best dunkers wasn’t beneath them, the league chucked a Snuggie into the Atlantic Ocean and
Once you have a reputation in the NBA, it’s extremely difficult to change it. Rudy Gay is among the players who best understands that. Known as an inefficient, overpaid player the last few seasons, Gay is now with the Sacramento Kings and has won over his coach, teammates, fans and even critics with improved play since his departure from Toronto in December in a seven-player trade. [Read more…]
A memorable All-Star weekend has come and gone, and now it’s back to business as usual. With the trade deadline just days away, teams will look to do whatever they can to improve their current situation. Without wasting any time, lets get right to what’s going on around the league. TIMBERWOLVES AND GRIZZLIES LOOKING TO DEAL? Both teams are currently out of the playoff picture in the West, but the Memphis Grizzlies are just 1 1/2 games behind the Golden State Warriors for
We’re nearing the All-Star break, and that means it’s just past halftime in the race for NBA Most Improved Player. So far this season, we’ve discussed Eminem, Seinfeld, the genetic connection between twins, existentialism, John Lennon, Mars Blackmon, and un-seeing the Eastern Conference standings. It’s been a great time, and I think we’ve all learned a lot. I know I have. But now, like middle school gym class, it’s time to separate the men from the boys. So let’s take a look at each candidate,
Welcome to the real season. Now that the Super Bowl is over and the NFL finally fades into the background of the American sports scene, many casual sports fans turn their attention to the NBA, as if the only sport that existed from Mondays to Saturdays in January was Herm Edwards and Ron Jaworski yelling hyperbolic nonsense at each other. Football’s bloated specter can be overbearing at times, especially with The Worldwide Leader making Daily Mail stories out of day-to-day NFL occurrences.