When the NBA lockout was announced in the summer of 2011, I was driving the streets of Dallas and checking out the three sports radio stations in the area. I listened briefly to each one to get their take on the major news of the day and then called my basketball cohort Mike Monroe in San Antonio. “Guess what the three sports radio stations are discussing?” I said. “Not the lockout?” wondered Monroe. “Hardly.” “Well then what?” “Two of the three are in animated discussions
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) Honestly, it’s nearly impossible to list just five reasons to feel positive about the NBA champion Miami Heat. The “Big Three” could take up three spots by themselves, and the fact that
MIAMI – As LeBron James enters his 10th NBA season, title in hand, the pressure is off – for the most part. The Miami Heat forward is no longer a choker, a fraud, a slacker. Now, he’s The Man. That frees him up to cement his legacy and chase legends such as Michael Jordan (six titles), Magic Johnson (five titles) and, yes, even Kobe Bryant (five titles). His battle isn’t with himself, it’s with all-time greatness. He plans to run the race
With all the major summer events – primarily the Olympics and Dwight Howard’s situation – coming to a quick close, there are bound to be plenty of stories to conclude all that has happened. That is exactly what we have for you in today’s news. Before you get there, though, be sure to check out a list of players that Chris Bernucca believes may become the next Dwight Howard. Carlos Delfino has agreed to terms with the Houston Rockets, according to
// MIAMI — As Miami Heat owner Micky Arison tip-toed through his team’s locker-room in his black loafers, cigar in mouth and baseball cap covering his soaked hair, an ESPN NBA analyst gave me an excellent piece of advice. “Learn a lesson from me,” he said. “Next time, wear old shoes.” In the locker room, I stepped in a puddle of what was undoubtedly a mixture of Dom Perignon, Moet, and Budweiser—the three types of alcoholic concoctions sprayed in abundance in the
When we decided to flush out the five best NBA Finals games of the David Stern Era, we didn’t think we would have so much trouble with Game 3. Since Stern became commissioner in 1984, no Finals game number has had more duds than Game 3. While other games had seven and eight candidates for our top five list, we had issues coming up with five truly great Game 3 showdowns. Three of the games making our list took place in the
One of the minor effects of Magic Johnson’s revelation that he was HIV positive was that a new term was added to sports writing and we all had to learn how to spell it. Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Beginning with Johnson’s announcement that he was retiring on November 7, 1991, I wrote that term many more times than I would have preferred. HIV wasn’t supposed to be part of the sports section. It belonged somewhere else. Ultimately, however, the intrusion of HIV into basketball
MIAMI – The Miami Heat have been playing better than ever during the past 10 days. Think about that. Better than ever. Last season the Heat had stretches in which they won 21 of 22 games, and 15 of 18 games. Yet this is the best stretch ever. That’s not me talking, that’s Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat are on a six-game winning streak over the past 10 days, and five of those wins were blowout victories on the road. Those