I caught some grief from all corners today after news came out that I was the only voter among 125 who had Blake Griffin second, behind Kevin Durant and ahead of LeBron James, in the NBA’s Most Valuable Player voting. Quite frankly, I am stunned I was the only one. Doc Rivers made the case in April that Griffin was the better No. 2 candidate, and that was something I decided, too, over the final two months of the season — a time
No surprise that Kevin Durant is the NBA’s MVP. Should we be surprised that he was not unanimous? That was a question I posed in the latter editions of the MVP rankings I published every Wednesday during the regular season, and in one of the final versions I wrote that some members of the South Florida media would likely vote for LeBron James, denying Durant a unanimous vote. Turns out that six first-place votes were cast for James — but none from South
So what now with Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson? After nearly taking the San Antonio Spurs to the brink in the second round of the playoffs last season, the Warriors came into this season with the highest of expectations after signing Andre Iguodala in the offseason. Unfortunately, with expectations come disappointments. The Warriors weren’t who they thought they’d be. They finished the regular season with a relatively disappointing sixth seed in the West and ultimately failed to come out of
Somehow, someway, these 2014 NBA playoffs just keep getting better. Nearly every game has come down to the wire, many going to overtime, and if they aren’t, than Kevin Durant must enforcing his will with an MVP performance. We were treated to three Game 6’s on Thursday night. Thanks to the basketball God’s we will be spoiled by three Game 7’s on Saturday. It can’t get better, can it? Only in the 2014 NBA playoffs can it get better. And it does. [Read more…]
The picture above – The Oklahoman newspaper with the headline “Mr. Unreliable” to describe hometown hero Kevin Durant – caused a serious stir around the league on Thursday for obvious reasons. It’s one thing for anyone else to describe Durant with such a negative connotation, but for his hometown paper to do so for a guy that has done such incredible things for the organization? Naturally, many were upset, and it caused editor Mike Sherman of The Oklahoman to come out with
Doesn’t Clay Bennett’s family own the Oklahoman? I believe that is the case. But whatever the case, that was a low blow by the newspaper this morning printing a front page headline that read: “Mr. Unreliable.” I have a headline for Scott Brooks and his strategy in Game 5, which you can hear in this podcast with WHBQsports56 in Memphis. I think you will like it. The hosts, Greg and Eli, loved it. And as far as the Durant headline goes, there is a corollary to be drawn
Joey Crawford is one of the most – if not the most – animated referees in the game. On Tuesday, his antics in overtime may have helped cost the Oklahoma City Thunder Game 5 against the Memphis Grizzlies: With 27.5 seconds remaining in the game and about to take his second free throw to tie the game, Kevin Durant was abruptly interrupted by Crawford as seen above. The reason for Crawford’s sudden course of action to prevent Durant from shooting his
Before getting into the filthy situation of Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers (and there is a lot to get into), we’ll start off with this: may the great Dr. Jack Ramsay rest in peace. The legendary coach passed away on Monday, making it a truly sad day for so many around the league. He was a basketball genius and an inspiration to the absolute best: [Read more…]