First off, play this video. It is my Christmas present to y’all, and you are guaranteed to laugh at least once while going through this column. And never forget: Laughter kills the blues. You may end up shaking your head, too, because it is an extremely subjective thing to be ranking so many top-tier players who are currently having top-tier seasons. I’ve been saying through the first third of the season that this is a four-man race this NBA season, and the
There comes a time each day when I need to take a break from basketball. On Tuesday night, there was no better time than after watching the battle between Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, an absolute thriller of a game that ended with Lillard sinking his eighth 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to improve the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA-best 22-4. So I shut down the telly, reached the for latest issue of Time Magazine, and learned that Pope
This was NOT the scene in Indianapolis after the Pacers defeated the Heat, but it is a fitting approximation of the post-game mood at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. What to make of the Pacers’ come-from-behind victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. Well, for starters, it provided some validation for Indiana after their scintillating start to the season. showing that they have the goods (and the composure) to compete with the two-time defending champs. But when will REAL
This was NOT the scene in Indianapolis after the Pacers defeated the Heat, but it is a fitting approximation of the post-game mood at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Have they cleaned up the confetti yet in Indianapolis? OK, maybe that is raining on the Pacers parade a little bit. It was a nice win last night, a great win really when you consider what was at stake — validation as a team that can truly compete with the Heat,
An extraordinary set of circumstances over the past week produced my first ever face-to-face encounter with a devoted supporter of the Insane Clown Posse, a fellow with red and blue face tattoos that made him look like the Joker from the most recent Batman movies. My buddy Chris G., who was alongside me for this episode of Random Bizzarro Encounter That Any Given Day May Bring, later explained to me that the fellow with the face tattoos was an officer in a
Yeah, we’re all sick of the Pacers. I will be visiting with them tonight at Madison Square Garden when they destroy the New York Knicks in Mike Woodson’s final game, and I will close this paragraph by reminding y’all that I picked Indiana to win the NBA championship. I even went on the BBC prior to the season and advised 120 million viewers to place a wager on them when the odds were between 7-1 and 12-1. Something tells me Ladbroke’s has
There is a temptation to put Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker on this list after what we all witnessed last night in Chicago. Think about it: Every NBA team – great, good or bad – had scouts and player personnel in attendance at the State Farm Classic, where Wiggins’ second half-heroics for Kansas outshined Parker’s 27-point effort for a Duke team that apparently has hired Andris Biedrins as its free throw shooting coach. Even the most diehard NBA fans couldn’t help
So, we now know that the Miami Heat will get the chance to experience springtime in Milwaukee. Except for the fact that springtime in Milwaukee typically lasts about two days. Then winter returns. Then summer magically appears out of the blue. And there’s no telling from year to year whether those two days will be in April, May or June. True story: While covering the Eastern Conference finals in 2001, it was May 31 and the Bucks had just finished practice and