Just in case you’ve forgotten that the NBA is locked out, let me do my absolute damnedest to remind you: we could be talking about actual basketball right now, but instead, I’m going to point you in the direction of E!
In the slim chance that you hadn’t heard, Jordan Crawford, per Michael Lee of the Washington Post, said one of those things NBA players just aren’t supposed to say: Heresy against His Airness isn’t very well tolerated in the NBA realm, as evidenced by the fact that even hinting that the greatest player in the game today had a chance at surpassing Jordan earned Scottie Pippen a public roasting.
Periodically, one financially inclined publication or another takes a look at the performance of professional sports teams in relation to their payroll.
As third parties have banded about all kinds of system-related ideas in light of the lockout, I’ve seen the 2010-2011 Indiana Pacers, who finished the regular season with a 37-45 record, categorically used as evidence in support of an altered playoff system.
Things are going just fine for the Portland Trail Blazers these days: LaMarcus Aldridge made “the leap,” last season, Rich Cho stole Gerald Wallace out of Charlotte with a bargain trade package, Andre Miller was replaced with a younger facsimile, Brandon Roy has shown signs of life, and the roster is loaded with capable contributors.
Steve Nash has defined the Phoenix Suns franchise since the summer of 2004, but every passing day brings the Suns that much closer to parting with their only remaining star.
Sunday’s South Florida All-Star Classic was the grandest of the NBA exhibitions to date, but it was nonetheless a single game in a series of similar contests.
No kid logging hours in their school gym longs to be an NBA role player, but the talent structure of the league dictates that some serve more complementary functions than others.
Every NBA team has lofty aspirations by the time training camp rolls around, and it seems that even the league’s holding pattern couldn’t quell the preseason optimism of a particular spokesman for a landlocked team.
Shane Battier isn’t quite the defensive force he once was; even the plus-minus data that illustrated his worth to teams like the Houston Rockets -- not to mention made him the subject of Michael Lewis’ renowned piece for The New York Times -- has turned on him of late, leaving Battier as merely a competent defender with an above average three-point stroke.
In addition to the free agent bonanza that will take place following the conclusion of the lockout, there is now a distinct possibility that an amnesty clause -- akin to the 2005 Allan Houston Rule -- will release even more players back onto the open market.
