I’m always a little shocked when a professional athlete looks this bad at a sport no matter what the sport happens to be. It’s not that I expect all pros to be good at every sport, but I do expect them to be able to mimick the basics of it, like hitting a golf ball past the womens tees. At least Barkley could make contact, not that it made it look any prettier than Reke, but at least the ball went somewhere. One thing we found through this charity event is that Tyreke won’t be leaving Sac anytime soon to join the PGA, because we all know he’s much more suited for weaving his way through NASCAR traffic!
Tag Archives: basketball
Lebron’s List Isn’t Shrinking
A couple days before Lebron had to add the 1992 Dream team to his list of people calling him out, Lebron took his talents to the amazing Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio last week. Not sure why he’s in a three point contest against some kids, and even more surprised that a scrawny white kid beat him, but fortunately for us Nike and Maverick Carter couldn’t hide camera phone footage of it like they did when he got dunked on. If Santa Claus, I mean, Lebron, is keeping up with his list he better throw on the names of the guys heckling him as well as the guy who shot this footage! Next week, hopefully he’ll be taking his talents to join the Jersey Shore crew.
The Cardinal List
In the wake of Anthony Tolliver and “The Decision: Part Deux,” Chappy, By, and I got to thinking about former Warriors who put up meaningless numbers on terrible teams, but somehow fooled other teams into offering them ridiculous contracts. Tolliver is the perfect example. A D-League call-up who received significant minutes because no one else wanted to play. I know, I know, they were injured, but after the recent interview with Andris Biedrins, I’m starting to question the entire team’s dedication. But back to the subject, here’s a list of players who’ve benefited from a little time spent in the East Bay. I call it the “Cardinal List,” named after former Warrior Brian Cardinal, who had a stellar season in Oakland, and then signed a fairly large contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, which might even still be going. I’ll check it out when I get to him, but I’m willing to bet he produced more in his one season in Golden State than he did during his entire contract in Memphis.
Gilbert Arenas – Washington: Okay, this one’s a little different because Arenas turned into a legitimate star. But, he played two seasons in Oakland for a TOTAL of $844,ooo, and then proceeded to make about $82 million over 6 years in DC. He’s a little different since he’s a bonafide star, but a prime example of a player getting some shine on the Orena floor en route to a substantial payday. While the Wizards would probably argue that contract was a decent investment, the one they gave him after that may be one they regret.
Earl Boykins – Denver: Boykins didn’t exactly get his start in Oakland, but he certainly made his name there. While his numbers weren’t overwhelming – he did have 7 games of 20+ points though – he proved he belonged in the league. He went from making $528,000 with the Warriors to $2.5 million in Denver the next year.
Brian Cardinal – Memphis: Ah, the man the list was named after. Cardinal spent his first three seasons in Detroit and Washington, where he totaled 52 points. The Warriors, however, let him into 76 games, only to watch him average 9.6 ppg. He quickly became a fan favorite, but even the fans knew he wasn’t worth 4 yrs, $20+ million. Fortunately, Warriors management knew this too, and they let Cardinal go to Memphis. I was really hoping to see that he’d scored less in his 4 seasons in Memphis than that one in Golden State, but after tallying the numbers, he managed to rack up 897 points in Memphis vs. 733 in one season with the W’s. Pretty close.
Anthony Morrow – New Jersey: Where were you when undrafted rookie Anthony Morrow scored 37 points against the Clippers? Chappy and I were courtside at Staples Center, with zero idea that was going to happen. We were busy wondering if these free tickets were even going to be at will call, let alone be on the floor five rows in front of Mitch Richmond. But 37 points and 11 rebounds later, we were obviously on the Morrow bandwagon. I’m still a big fan, but Morrow is still just an average player. The Nets didn’t think so though, as they offered him four times his current salary, going from $736,000 to $4,000,000 this season.
CJ Watson – Chicago: I guess when you have Derrick Rose, you don’t really need the world’s greatest backup point guard. But, to pay CJ Watson well over three times what he was making last year, it seems like you could find a better value. After all, the Warriors found Watson, like many other players, in the D-League, so surely the Bulls could’ve found a similar player for a fraction of the price.
Anthony Tolliver – Minnesota: The guy who inspired this list. Yes, he did have a 34 point game last season, not coincidentally in Minnesota. But for a D-league call up who basically got minutes by default, I have no problem watching him walk up to the Twin Cities to the tune of $2.4 million per. The Warriors will probably find four guys next year for that price. And you know what? Those four guys will probably go on to sign inflated contracts elsewhere when their time is up.
More to LeBron’s Move to Miami …
Inspired by Chappy’s latest post (see post below this) I have decided to keep up with the “random thoughts” theme, as the world of sports is sloth like to me at the moment. Stagnant. So why not combine my fascination for two things I can’t turn my eyes from, and write about it?
Forget Wade & Bosh, these are Bron's real friends in Miami
It’s been about a month since we were all witnesses to “The Decision”, yet the media still talks about it as if it happened yesterday. Rightfully so. My first reaction to his hour long special was, “What a douche!” I mean, that was about as classy as “The Situation” is from Jersey Shore. To pick the bigger douche between the two would be a difficult task after that. His decision to make “The Decision” was a complete train wreck, just like the Jersey Shore shows, but, we were all tuned in. We love train wrecks don’t we America? A lot of us were hoping that LeBron would announce he was staying in Cleveland, to fulfill the contrived destiny we create for our stars. But, some of us were hoping for the opposite. Some of us were hoping for exactly what happened. Just like how some of us hope Snooki’s drunk date pukes all over her when she attempts to kiss him. Tell me you didn’t find it all entertaining. And get this, now that the Jersey Shore cast has moved to Miami for the second season, wouldn’t it be great if LeBron was the surprise new roomie? I mean, judging by the way he’s carried himself since the end of last season to now, wouldn’t he fit right in with the orange people? Bron looks like a total “Juice Head” right? Is all of this going down like it has, a coincidence? I’m sure he’s ran into Sitch & DJ Pauley D in Vegas once or twice, they all get along, have a few drinks and then maybe come up with a pact to be casted on a reality show together in Miami. Pending his other pact to sign with the Heat falls through first, of course. Would that be impossible? I think not. LeBron better not bring “grenades” to the house though.
What do Baseball Trades, Stephen Curry, and Brett Favre Have in Common?
They don’t really have anything in common, it’s just what I felt like rambling about today. I’ve had a stretch of stuff to do, and that didn’t include much blogging. I guess it’s not a bad thing to have too much to do. If only there were more hours in the day! Anyways, it’s been somewhat slow in the sports world lately, but there were some things I felt like I wanted to get my opinion out there on, so skip to whatever interests you.
MLB Trade Deadline: I liked how much action we saw leading up to, and during the July 31st trade deadline. It seemed more active than normal. Everyone is praising the Yankees for their haul of Berkman, Kerns, and Wood.
Not too many poo poo platters this trade deadline... Mr. Hankey Approves!
Sure it’s nice, but I don’t really see any of them making much of a difference. All three of these guys would’ve been nice acquisitions four or five years ago, but now, not so exciting. After this weekend, I think the Rays did just as good by making a small move to get Chad Qualls. Maybe it’s the NY media trying to make everyone believe the Yankees made some genius moves, but I’m not really buying it. For me it comes down to two teams that were the big winners. The Rangers and the Padres made the moves that made the most sense for their teams to get to the playoffs. I won’t include Houston or Arizona, since we don’t really know how the trades will affect them for a few years. The Rangers addressed their biggest need in getting an ace, Cliff Lee. He hasn’t won a lot since he joined the rotation, but he’s saved the bullpen from having to do anything throwing complete games like it’s a AAA squad. They also added Christian Guzman and Jorge Cantu. They plugged up their hole at first base, and also found a replacement for Ian Kinsler since he went to the DL. I loved the meaning behind all three trades. It was especially surprising for a franchise that is bankrupt. Same goes for the Padres who have their layover until new management is in place, and they were also big winners in my eyes. They’ve been nothing short of amazing with the pitching staff and defense, but didn’t have many hitters that you really feared outside of Adrian Gonzalez. I thought they were done when they got Tejada, which MCeezy or me at this point really understand how he fit in. One thing about Tejada though, is if he’s in a good situation, he is going to fire everyone else up around him. Maybe being in the playoff hunt will spark his bat a little too. They also added Ludwick, which I was shocked to hear. Now they have a legitimate guy to put in front of or behind Gonzalez. I think these moves keep them ahead of the Giants in the NL West.
Stephen Curry’s New Team – I’m already ecstatic on the Warriors upcoming season, and adding David Lee to the roster is welcomed after the original shock of losing Anthony Randolph. Proven guy vs. a guy with a seemingly limitless ceiling. I guess you can’t argue with the proven guy that works hard with everything he does. With the new face of the franchise being Lee and Curry it may have moved the Warriors into a good character type of player instead of the me first attitude we’ve had over recent years, Monta, SJax, Baron (at times), Harrington, etc. The reason I started this ramble was that I am pretty pumped to see Curry made the cut for final 15 on team USA. No, not just because of the mancrush I have on him, but for the experience he’ll gain, and how it will help him down the road. I’m not sure he’ll make the final 12 man roster, but either way it’s a great thing for him to be there around some of the elite younger players in the league over the next month. Too bad his new teammate (David Lee) had to withdraw because of his finger, but here’s what should happen to Curry from this experience. A) He gets to play with guys that aren’t in the D-League (Pretty much the Warriors roster for the 2nd half of 2009-10). B) He might not be able to make a pact like the Miami Trio, since the dubs have him locked up for awhile, and hopefully never let him get away. I mean, he could try to make a pact with a guy like Durant, but that’s unlikely, so maybe he could make a pitch to Iguodala or Granger to move over to the Bay when their contracts are up (4 years). C) He gets to learn from Coach K., and hopefully gets some pointers on defense, and maybe learns a trick or two to stop turning the ball over. D) He gets to learn to play the ultimate team game, since winning is the ONLY thing that matters for Team USA. I don’t think I can say the same for a Nellie led Warriors squad that seems to just want to entertain at times. Hopefully when Nellie starts taking vacations in the season, the new owners dump him.
Brett Favre – Weird, he says he’s retiring for a third time, even though we saw him playing catch a few weeks ago with some High Scool kids. It’s a GREAT thing when a rumor comes out, and nobody believes it. Usually there are people on both sides of the fence, but with this one, nobody seemed to really believe he’s actually made his final decision. I guess it’s the ol’ boy who cried wolf. Love or hate the guy, he’s good for the league. I hate the guy, but do want to see him out there. I was giddy during that NFC Championship game. It was great to root for the Saints to pummel him over and over, and fortunately, they did! If he sucked last year like he did with the Jets, nobody would care half as much, and might be believing the rumor. It’s crazy that he’s the one controlling the NFC North. Is he texting to start a gambling conspiracy? The odds jumped quite a bit as soon as it was announced he is retiring, I’m just sayin… I hope it’s not true, because I like to root against him. It’s like Tiger for me, it’s not fun to root against him when he isn’t dominating. Or like my Raiders. Growing up, I would get crap from people all the time (hater nation), but now friends just feel sorry for me after losing for so long. Brett we need you as a villain, so I, like everybody else, don’t believe that you are retiring. Personally, I think it’s just a cop out, so he doesn’t have to go to training camps, and can make the Vikings bend over backwards buying him an armadillo farm to hunt at. Maybe he just likes the attention, but whatever the reason, I have a feeling he already knows what he wants to do, and that will be to play football.
Press Hop Part 2
The highly anticipated follow up to the original Press Hop, orchestrated by DJ Steve Porter. Not much to analyze in this one, but for all us sports fans this is a great video mix of some of the most memorable press conferences that we loved to talk about. It must’ve taken this guy forever to mix this. I thank him for wasting away his time in the editing room!
CP3, Haren, and Garza’s No-No
Maverick Carter, a face I'm starting to hate more and more...
CP3 made me, and the sports-world lose a little respect for him over the weekend after making some trade demands that he can’t really force. If you have a player that is close to or at the top of their position you just don’t trade that guy away when he’s still under contract. The only time you really do is at the trade deadline when you are obviously out of it for the season, and have zero chance to re-sign the guy. I’m sure there’s something about making $14M this year and $16M next year that makes me feel he should honor his contract/commitment to the Hornets. I think the thing that bugs me the most though is that this whole ill-conceived plan to demand a trade was most likely whispered into his ear by his new buddies/agents Worldwide Wes and Maverick Carter. I’ve always been a CP3 fan, and like By, I was really looking forward to his return to greatness in 2010-2011 season. Now that he has taken the Lebron-Maverick-Wes route I’m not sure I will ever view him in the same light anymore. He’s nearly as important to New Orleans as Drew Brees, and the fans there don’t deserve to be jerked around for the next two years by James’ crew and CP3. I prey they don’t contrive some ridiculous hour special for his decision 2012. He shouldn’t have demanded a trade, especially since it sounds like he hadn’t even meet with the new coach (Monty Williams) or new GM (Dell Demps) prior to telling the world he wanted out. Just another flawed power trip by James’ gang of half wits that think they are above everyone, and are the ones pulling the strings. If this isn’t a sign to stay away from Carter and Wes, I’m not sure what will show players that they are bad for the league and a players image. They’ve done well killing Cleveland’s fan base, are they going to kill New Orleans basketball too? Let’s hope not…
Speaking of guys I used to like, Dan Haren was traded to the Angels over the weekend and made his first start last night. I had to tune in to see exactly where my sports hate of him would stand, and just like Vlad and Torii before him, I now have to root against the guy. During his stint with the A’s I didn’t think I’d ever NOT like him. He’s easily the most successful player we’ve had over the last few years. Even the players we got for him ended up being great (Brett Anderson, Carlos Gonzalez, and hopefully Chris Carter pans out too), which made me like him all the more. I had mixed emotions watching him pitch last night, and after he threw a couple of innings I realized this was the end of our relationship for awhile. It’s amazing how quickly you can turn on a player, and I admittedly cracked a small smile when he was hit by a line drive, then immediately felt a little bad I was happy that he got hurt in his first start. I guess I’m just mad that the A’s will have to face him six times a year now… Oh well, if anyone has a complete scouting report on the guy, it’s the A’s!
I was eating dinner at a bar where one of my whiffle ball buddies bartends, and last night I found out he went to Fresno State, and played baseball with Matt Garza in college. It only came up because we were watching Garza pitch the last four innings of his no hitter yesterday. It was pretty impressive as he faced the minimum amount of hitters, and only walked one guy the whole night. It had to be relieving for the Rays, and their fans to be on the right side of a no-no/perfect game as they’ve seen three thrown against them in the last two years. Anyways, my buddy who went to college with him said he wasn’t even the top prospect on their team, which makes his story a little better. He also told me that the guy “acts like a little girl when he drinks” Another thing he mentioned was that he was a really weird guy that kept to himself a lot. Anyways, just thought those might be a couple of interesting tidbits of info on Garza that you probably haven’t heard….
It’s About Time….
Every Night is Asian Night!
There’s two things you’ll find a lot of on Doin Work: stuff about the Golden State Warriors, and stuff about Asians. Naturally, I’ve got to talk about the Warriors newest addition, Jeremy Lin. The W’s signed the D-League sensation today much to the delight of the fans. Obviously the Bay Area is home to plenty of Asians, including Lin himself, who grew up across the Bay in Palo Alto. In numerous interviews on countless local sports channels, Lin admitted that he was hoping he’d get drafted by the team, but all hopes were lost when the Warriors ultimately traded out of the second round in the draft. Fate played its hand though, and the Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer will be donning the blue and gold this season.
It really was a long time coming for a team that could so easily win over THOUSANDS of fans instantly just by adding an Asian. Any team will tell you they’re more concerned with the players on the floor than the number of fans in the seats, but that’s not true. Clearly the W’s weren’t that concerned with fielding a good team, but they always have an entertaining one. Why not add the best Asian you can find? I’ve long felt like the team should make a play for Yao, or more realistically, Yi, just for the excitement factor. I’m not sure how big of a role he’ll play on the team, but he sure will provide some excitement when he’s on the floor. Just check out how these Vegas Summer League fans were reacting to his play….
Heel Turn
I’m sorry, but is there any better way to compare how the “New Big Three” transpired down in Miami, than in this clip right here?
Is It Football Time Yet?
When it boils down to it, I’m basically a two sport guy, Basketball & Football. I do follow my San Francisco Giants, but I could care less what the rest of baseball is doing, and apparently I’m not the only one.
Anyway, I must thank the NBA for setting up a 7 game series between two classic rivals in the Finals. I must thank the 2010 World Cup, which actually opened an eye for me towards soccer. I can honestly say I had never been quite as involved in it until this time around. Hopefully my fair weather fanship doesn’t die down. But most importantly, I must thank the idiots at “Team LeBron” which includes the “Self Proclaimed King” himself, for their decision to make “The Decision.” This led to Miami becoming the “Evil Empire” of Basketball, Dan Gilbert’s now infamous letter in size 14 Comic Sans font, and so on, and so on.
You see, what this all does for me is shortens the time between the end of the NBA season, and the beginning of the NFL season. I was talking to my girlfriend the other night about how I don’t even watch much SportsCenter come this time of the year, because there isn’t a consistent thing for me to care about in the world of sports. Thank god for the show Dexter.
But now Football is coming around the corner and I can’t wait! Why you ask? Well I’m excited for Football every year, but this particular year is more personal for me. It is the return of the San Francisco 49ers to the post season! Now there’s been many instances of us (49ers fans) believing which ever past season we were in, was “the” season. A few years back when we defeated then division power house Seattle Seahawks twice in the same season, we barely missed the Playoffs. We naturally thought the following season would be it for us then. Negative. Last season, we thought for certain “this was it.” One blinded Brett Favre miracle toss and complete melt downs versus Atlanta & Tennessee at home later, and fail.
This season is different. For one, we’ve steadily improved over the past few seasons under Mike Singletary. He’s molded a defensive unit capable of cracking the top five. Two, we have a healthy Frank Gore, a budding star Tight End in Vernon Davis, and Michael Crabtree for a full season. Alex Smith has been more than suspect during the course of his career, but he has all the tools now to make this offense respectable. I have to believe he’ll deliver. Lastly, no more Kurt Warner! I’m sorry Cardinals fans, but Matt Leinart just isn’t it, at least not right now. You lose Warner, and Boldin, and you drop to third in the division. For the 49ers, just focus on your division. The rest will fall into place.
With that said, I am chomping at the bits for the 2010 NFL season to start! Aside from the 49ers, there’s other mysteries that have yet to be answered. Is Peyton Manning & Tom Brady on the decline in their careers? Will T.O. find a home? Who will Chad Ocho Cinco choose in his new reality dating show? These are the good questions only the NFL brings. But, in the mean time, I’m hoping “Team LeBron” and his “Brand” can keep me occupied until then, which for some reason, I have no doubt they will do. I wish I could take my boredom to South Beach …
Warriors Have a New Savior?
I think I’ve been waiting to write this post since before we even started this blog. FINALLY it’s been reported that the Warriors have a new owner, and shockingly it’s not Oracle founding billionaire, Larry Ellison. Instead it’s Joseph Lacob who is currently a partial owner of the Boston Celtics that teamed up with Peter Gruber of the Mandalay Entertainment to outbid Larry Ellison to the tune of $450M. He will have to sell off his stake with the Celtics, but that’s a mere formality. It’s going to be approved by the league since Lacob already has a stake in another NBA franchise.
Aside from that magical 2007 season there wasn’t much to cheer about over the years. The Warriors made a habit out of trading away talent for poo poo platters, and suffered through watching disgruntled employees/players argue with management about any topic you could think of from winning to contracts to injuries. I’m truly glad the former owner Chris Cohan owed the IRS about $160M in unpaid taxes or this may never have happened! Alas, here we are about to finally begin a new era in the Bay Area. An era where the owner hopefully cares about the team winning! Lacob will have a very low bar to raise, and with a great fanbase already in place ready to praise his every move, I’m positive he can’t get as many things wrong as the previous regime. I’m somewhat sad that Ellison didn’t outbid Lacob, but in the end, as we saw with Prokhorov being a billionaire owner doesn’t mean guys will just flock to your team. I’m still shocked that Ellison didn’t oubid them, since he’s worth $28 billion, and reportedly there was a difference of $20-$50M differnce in the bids, which is less than a percent of his total worth. I guess it was rumored he did not want to overpay Cohan and reward him with a failure bonus. Either way I couldn’t be more extatic that this has all come to an fruition, and we actually have a future to look forward to.
Next up: Make a pitch to Kevin Pritchard to be our GM, and fire lame duck coach Don Nelson. I don’t hate Nellie or anything, but we all know how he rolls in his last year of a contract. If you forgot, just ask any Dallas fan!
Kobe vs. Jordan, and Father Time E-Mail Thread
Today Dyslecix sent out the youtube clip above sparked a longer than expected e-mail chain that we figured was worthy of posting in this slow sports news day. We started with Lebron vs. Kobe. It turned into Kobe and how many more championships can he win, and ultimately ended with some comparisons to Jordan.
Chappy: Haha, did you see Matt’s post over the weekend saying Lebron dethroned Kobe as the most hated man in basketball?
Dyslecix: Yeah I sure did…that was a good post! I think Lebron will win a lot of people back down the road. The media is really driving the hate and the influence is pretty huge. If that team plays well and looks like they enjoy themselves, and makes a good impression during the season, I think people will come back around. Minus Laker fans of course.
By: Kobe, has been the best player from 2004-present time, and far greater than LeBron James now, and future LeBron James considering what he’s done in taking the cop out option to join Dwayne Wade, who is arguably better than him also.
Cali4Dre: I actually prefer people hating Kobe, so it spites them that much more when he makes those off-balance game winners, and wins 3 more rings in the next 5 years. I think by next year the LBJ noise will have died down after they get to the Finals and lose to the Lakers…
Chappy: I still hate Kobe, but respect him much more than I used to. Living in LA it’s either watch the Lakers or Clippers… Not a tough choice, unless you like watching crappy hoops… I don’t think he’s going to get three more rings though. Two at most…
By: I’ve always hated Kobe because of his arrogance, and because he’s tried to mimic Jordan both on & off the court as oppose to being an original person, but his game is off the charts. No one hits more difficult shots in critical moments than Kobe, and I’ve learned to respect his game immensely. When Kobe rises up for a big shot, if you’re a Lakers fan, you’re already cheering, and if you’re not a Lakers fan, you’re already putting your hands over your head. Clutch is everything. Continue reading
Oh My… Point Taken!
I’m not the biggest Dan Le Batard fan, but Dyslecix sent this clip out in the e-mail chain today, and I found this pretty damn funny. I like how he threw in a picture of Terrance farting on Phillip, and the real King (of burgers) was pretty solid as well. He even threw in a little spoof of the double rainbow clip that MCeezy put up over the weekend! All this added up to one hilarious 3 1/2 minutes, which is about as long as Lebron’s special should’ve been! The best part about all this, was that Dan is a Miami native, so he’s making fun of his own team!
Road Trippin on NBA.com
I checked out some random basketball team’s site to see the hype over whatever new player(s) they acquire. One thing lead to another….. And next thing you know, I’m checking out every team’s site to see what they’re offering at this juncture of the offseason. Time to depart….
I had to get out of Sacramento, where they’re resorting to an image of Lebron, D-Wade, and Bosh. I was hoping for some more hype about Demarcus Cousins, or maybe even more Tyreke. Instead, they’re trying to get people to sign up and buy the “Lebron Quarter Season” package…..
First stop will be the Golden State Warriors. Naturally, the main billboard is “Warriors Acquire David Lee,” and I’ve got to admit the interview with Lee sort of made me a believer. The trade seemed a little lopsided, but once I remembered they’ll still have Curry, Monta, and Biedrins playing with Lee, I’ll be alright.
I guess it’s better that they take the high road and not even acknowledge it, but the Lakers were the one team I was hoping would have something up about Miami. Something like a big graphic saying “We Still Have Kobe” with five championship trophies behind him. Instead it’s business as usual…. Oh yeah, the Clippers are here too. Ah, seems as though they’ve picked up Ryan Gomes and Randy Foye. *yawn*
Time to head east on the 10 and see how Phoenix is holding up without Amare. They have a nice Thank You on there for him, but it’s okay because We locked up Channing Frye for five years!!!”
Not much going on in San Antonio (as usual), Houston, or New Orleans, so we’ll veer north toward Dallas and Oklahoma City. Dallas is, not surprisingly, all about keeping Dirk. Only problem is, didn’t they already? Someone update the site! Meanwhile, in OKC, there’s an Anti-Lebron being born. Kevin Durant basically proposed to the Thunder franchise and the state of Oklahoma. The honeymoon is in full force….
Lebron Just Dethroned Kobe As Most Hated Player in the NBA
It’s true. The title Kobe Bryant held for so long has been snatched out from underneath him. Long considered the spoiled brat of the NBA, Kobe may very well be sitting back watching Lebron get ripped by every fan, franchise, and media outlet in the nation, smiling uncontrollably. I know I would be. See, Kobe grew out of the bad boy stage a couple years ago. Somewhere, he realized he didn’t need to be a villain. Moreover, in order to be regarded with the Jordans, Magics, and Birds, he needed to be liked. I’m not saying he changed his personality, but he simply became tolerable. Many still hate him, but not as passionately as they used to. I actually came around a lot earlier than most. I think it was a combination of going to college with his cousin and the Kings fall from contention and no longer having to deal with him in the big moments. What really did it for me was that Kobe simply is THAT GOOD. I was a damn good swimmer all through high school, and somewhere along the line, I realized you had to KNOW you were that good to BE that good. That’s all Kobe was doing. You need your opposition to believe that they can’t beat you. Kobe has mastered this. Up until now, Kobe was the bad guy and Lebron was the good guy.
Not so anymore. Lebron James was a man among boys ever since he was in high school. Grown ass men were looking up to him because he seemed to have the world in the palm of his hands. Thursday night ended up being the biggest heel turn – to put it in WWF terms – the NBA has ever seen. It was almost as if Lebron ripped off his Cavs jersey to reveal an NWO shirt underneath. Now, it’s not like the Heat are a hated franchise or anything. They’re not the Lakers or the Knicks or even the Celtics. Had he gone to the Knicks, which was highly speculated, it would’ve been fine because it would’ve been HIS team. Instead, he goes and joins D-Wade’s team. Even if he wins a championship, it won’t be his. But clearly he doesn’t care about it. I don’t know if I’m going to hate the Heat as much as I’m going to root for the Cavs. Even though Cleveland is widely regarded as one of America’s shitholes…. the Mistake by the Lake, if you will…. I grew up during the Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo era. They were a solid franchise when I was young. They’re not really a poor hapless franchise like, say, the Sacramento Kings or Golden State Warriors, in my book. But on one fateful night, the Cavs became the biggest underdogs the NBA has ever seen. Can anyone really root against them? I mean sure, Daniel Gibson could go away and no one would miss him. But Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams deserve better. I was never much of a Dan Gilbert fan, and as much as he may have been going a little overboard, I am now. I avoided “The Decision” at all costs, but I’ll definitely be tuning in for Lebron’s first game back in Cleveland as a flamer. You can take that to the bank.
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