NBA: Rated E

Ever since Michael Jordan's third retirement, League Commissioner David Stern has been faced with increasing pressure as fan interest on domestic soil has been consistently on the fall. Amidst a lack of a true heir to MJ, criminal charges, hip-hop culture, domestic violence, brawls, and now a reffing scandal - natural growth for the sport has naturally become inconceivable. First the NBA did what any other MNC is doing these days, and that is gaining a new market by banking on globalization. While this has been largely successful, it hasn't changed things back at home, as clearly shown by the worst ratings ever for a Finals series this year.

So David Stern and the League Office, instead, have tweaked with the game to try to make it more viewer friendly, to make it more 'entertaining'. While this has certainly helped attract new fans into the league, with players like Wade and LeBron becoming the heroes of so many unsuspecting fans and teenage girls across homes, it has taken chunks out of the game that has no doubt left hardcore fans, true fans that have stuck by the league in lockout seasons and recent bad years, out in the cold.

Why go Casual?

Let me first warn you that what is about to follow is not for the casual basketball/sports fan, so if that's you then STOP reading immediately. Now that that's out of the way, I can tell you without any guilt or remorse, why casual basketball fans have and will keep ruining the sport of basketball for us true fans. For any of the casual fans that have passed through the filter I carefully planted at the beginning of this paragraph, don’t be too mad, the hate is not directed at you. Fact of the matter is it's not really your fault but the fault of the NBA for wanting to grow and become more important by any means necessary.

Yes, they could have clearly co-existed without making any changes despite slumps in ratings. NBA revenues might have fallen, stadiums attendances as well, but at the end of the day this would only lower the player's salaries. So what if Rashard Lewis makes 7million per year rather than the 20 or so he will average for the next 6 season. You think he's going to say "Ah screw it, I'm gonna go take that job at Wal-Mart"? European/International basketball is no where near offering the same salaries as the NBA so there isn’t even anywhere he can go play basketball. Oh wait I almost forgot, he can join the And1 Tour and make some pocket change embarrassing a 48 year old man called "Half-Man Half Amazing". Oh and if the Players threaten a lockout, you can read them that last line I just wrote, it should send chills down their spine. Alternatively teach them a little something about free market economics, or yet just basic maths - a team making 40 million can't spend 50 million on its players.

Why does the NBA want to grow and grow, 70% of the revenue goes to the players anyways. As much as I love the NBA and its players, I am getting sick of getting screwed over with far less than ideal basketball so the likes of Juwan Howard can make 20 million per year. I would never spend couple hundreds of my hard earned money on an NBA game, unless it's Kobe in a game 7 of the Playoffs. Is this what the game has fallen down to - me, an NBA fan since I learned to open my eyes and stare at a TV screen, doesn't want to go see a game? As a fan, should I care that the League becomes more profitable, should I care that more people watch, should I care that the WNBA/NBDL exists? No. If it is entertainment that you are trying to sell me, Mr. Stern then I don't care about any of those things. I don’t care about woman's basketball, why should I support it, you're just selling me entertainment after all, not a sport, not an art form. You don't care about spreading the beauty of the game, you're the one ruining it to increase your profits!

NBA: Entertainment, not Sport

There's a reason why true basketball connoisseurs laugh at the USA 'dream' team every time it 'unexpectedly' gets crushed by international opposition. Back in the day I use to cheer for the Dream Team, the original and only 'Dream Team' that is. It was a team whose life was basketball, who earned the respect of their 'colleagues' around the world with playoff wars that left the viewers in pain, awe, and appreciation. Then you look at the last couple teams that strolled in with complete arrogance, eliteness, headbands, and fancy high-fives. The players? The likes of LeBron, Dwayne, Bosh - who are the leaders of this new NBA, already regarded as heroes for a couple years of living and dieing by the referee's tight calls. Do I need to mention what happened with these NBA heroes at these international tournaments? Dwayne realized he can't shoot, and that he needs to run over a couple people then jump into a couple more to score/get fouled. Same for LeBron. Chris Bosh, meanwhile, looked like a Dinosaur (in more ways than one) wondering where the hell he was.

Charge after charge, travel after travel, miss after miss - my hope for basketball began to grow again. I thought perhaps after 3 successive major tournaments without a championship, that the NBA and USA might learn its lesson. It might perhaps learn that what they are playing over there in America isn't real basketball. It isnt a sport that was designed to use all 5 players to the max, it isnt a sport where teamwork above anything else is important, it isn’t a sport that gives sacrifice, intelligence, or camaraderie any where near the amount of respect it deserves. Unfortunately, the Americans haven't learned a thing. They have always been known for repeating mistakes they have previously made, this is no exception. You have rules that prevent players from taking charges in specific places, you have rules preventing teams to properly play defense as a team, you have rules preventing your bench team mates to give you support when something breaks out on the court. Meanwhile, international players keep taking over the NBA and not because of superior athleticism, but simply because they know what the game is about - smart teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns have taken advantage of this.

What kind of league is this?

We have taken out the most important ingredients of basketball and replaced it with high flyers, one-on-ones, star players, and highlights. "Oh we dont want players to get called for travel, the casual fan might lose interest and switch over to watch WWE instead". "Lets put this little circle below the free-throw line where players cant stand, so there can be more dunks in a game, you know how much those random fans love to see dunks." "Oh and lets not allow players to dress 'wrong', or bench players to rush on to the court, that might lead to the perception that we condone gangsters and fights." "Hey, lets tighten the officiating so maybe we can see someone score loads like MJ did." So what's left? A league where basketball is eroding, and entertainment is taking over.


Darkening memories of the Past

The current state of the league doesn’t stop at abysmal basketball today, but also darkens our memory of basketball in the past. Do you remember back in the day, when 50 point games would wow you and be on your mind the rest of the day. I do, although very vaguely. Today, everyone and their mother is scoring 50 points. The officiating has become so tight, that drivers and slashers have started to receive a huge advantage over not only over the current batch of shooters/post players, but over the drivers/slashers of the past. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade don’t deserve to be even mentioned in the same sentence as Michael Jordan. Both have used the horrid state of the Eastern Conference, and referee protection to turn themselves into superstars and downright legends. Worst of it is that everyone is buying into this. There are very few amounts of people that don’t realize that Wade's performance in the Finals, and LBJ's performance in this year's playoffs were far far less impressive than people make it out to be. When years pass, and us crazy 'conspiracy theorists' are no longer around, what do you think the general public is going to remember and believe.


Adios NBA Basketball

I've said a lot, more than I wished to say on this topic. Very few people will probably derive any meaning or even sense from this article. I guess this is just something that I needed to get out of me, this was my way of finally accepting the fate of the NBA. I will never say goodbye to basketball in general, but it certainly feels like this was a goodbye to basketball in its highest form. I'll still see real basketball, when I watch kids playing out in the streets just battling to stay on the court, I'll still see basketball in high schools where kids listen to their coach and execute plays and win as a true team - I'll still see basketball and that, no greedy businessmen can ever take away from me. However as far as the NBA is concerned, this is it, adios. When I look at you from now on, it will not be basketball that I watch, but mere entertainment.

The Greatest TV Show Ever

In recent years, NBA players have started to gain much attention outside of basketball quarters. Three of these players diversifying outside of basketball: Gilbert Arenas, Shaquille O'neal, and Stephon Marbury also happen to be among the most entertaining people in show business. Gilbert has gained superstar status mostly through his blog and crazy behaviour, Shaq has and always will be the Godfather of entertainment, and Stephon Marbury has shown flashes of insanity on numerous occasions. So what would be better than bringing these three together, and making one crazy motherfreakin' show? Nothing I tell you, absolutely nothing! Just imagining those three together puts a big smile on my face. Therefore, in order to make this timeless classic a reality, I present to you my 5 ideas for a Big Diesel/Agent 0/Starbury television show.

Show Ideas

1) A question of Sanity

If you have watched any BBC, you might have run into a sports trivia show called 'A question of Sport'. There is one host, two regular team leaders and then 2 guest celebrities on each team. Question are presented to each team on sports, with video clips, pictures, and in other entertaining forms.This is in fact a perfect model to copy and one that would enjoy unprecedented success.

Shaq would be the host and the man providing witty remarks at every approapriate junction. He would need to go to some speech training course so that people can actually understand what the hell he's muttering, but that can be arranged. Gilbert Arenas, as a leader of 'Team 0', would always come up with some crazy answers that will have the crowd laughing as often as a 'Friends' episode. His team would probably be stuck on 0 points for most of the game, but that doesnt mean they cant win. Thats because on the other team you have Stephon Marbury, who will no doubt try his best to outcraze Arenas and come with some wacky stuff that will occasionaly cross the line and have everyone in the room quiet, wondering whether to boo him. Shaq will break that ice and come up with one of his classic punch lines that will restore sanity to the room.

Verdict: This show knows no limits besides the craziness of Arenas and Marbury, so yea - no limits. Sports celebrities guests would provide a nice colourful background to this mayhem, and some watchers will even be drawn by the sports trivia itself. This is a platinum mine.

2) The Next Big Invention

The SMG (Shaq/Marbury/Gilbert) trio no doubt have some crazy ideas deep inside their brain. This show would be reveal who among the three is the craziest of them all. The premise would be to make the best and craziest invention that they can possibly make. Their budgets would all be something around $50,000 and they would have this amount of capital to make their idea a reality. THe camera would go around tracking their progress to make their crazy invention happen. Shaq would perhaps try to make a 100% freethrow making catapult, Gilbert would try to develop a basketball jersey that hydrates your body while still playing, and Stephon Marbury would make the viewers cringe with his god-awful idea of making a solar-powered flashlight. The presentation would be similar to "The Apprentice" and the host would be no other than Mr. Donal Trump himself.

Verdict: Just imagining Marbury in a lab coat and brainstorming inventions with his advisors is enough for me to invest my life savings on this show.

3) Favorite Uncle

There's a lot of dating shows on television where one guy/girl goes on dates with three other members of the opposite sex. In the end, through these dates the one person has to pick one of the three he/she likes best. A similar idea can be implimanted for the SMG trio where they are the contestants and instead of a woman, it is a kid's love they have to win (I feel bad for even making this point but I dont want to get sued: its obviously a much different kind of love they need to win with the kid). What makes this idea so great is that 1) all three are just overgrown kids 2) love children - Shaq has kids, Gilbert looks after one, and Marbury writes children's books 3) probably are the type would want to be the favorite uncle 4) and the kid can and will say anything that's on his mind to these manchilds. Seeing these three dissed by a kid and seeing them all fight each other to be the 'favorite uncle' would be some good old fashioned entertainment.

Verdict: Im still not sure if three old strangers trying to impress a little kid falls in the Bill Cosby or Michael Jackson area.

4) The FaceOff

This show besides the SMG trio would need one more suitable NBA personality, my vote goes to Sam Cassell. This show is a mix between American Idol/BET Freestyle Friday/And1 Tour. Each of the 4 NBA stars is an agent/coach and has to find 5 under-21 team members. They each have to find 1 basketball player, 1 hiphop freestyler, 1 dancer, 1 comedian, and 1 model. After a search through auditions, parks, events, and the street, the team will be formed. Then, each week there is a small tournament to decide which of these NBA stars' picks were the best. A one-on-one game for basketball, a freestyle battle for rappers, a dance off for dancers, a short comedy routine for comedians, and a cat walk for the models. It's a straight 4 team bracket elimination tournament for each field, and the winner gets 4 points, 2nd gets 3, 3rd gets 2, and 4th gets 1. At the end of these 5 competitions, the coach with the most points wins. Of course along the way, there will be a lot of trashtalk between the NBA players each claiming their discovery to be the best. Coaching and motivation will also be important. Three notable NBA players/celebrities will be on hand to judge who is the winner (except for the basketball part which will be decided on score, and be the last weeks event where points count 2x more.)

Verdict: Alot to love about this show, Cassel teaching his ball player some dirty tricks, Arenas telling his rapper to diss Shaq, Marbury being uncomfortably close to his model, and Shaq telling his comedian joke ideas should all be memorable highlights.

5) Garage Sale

This time the SMG trio is on the same team, where they will face three contestants each episode (preferably celebrities, but not a must). The object of the game is to make the most money possible. They will have 100 dollars to go to garage sales and pick out undervalued items. Then after bargaining and arguing amongst themselves, they will have a bunch of items which they spent 100 dollars on. They will then along with the other team (say made of P.Diddy, Charles Barkley, and Jessica Alba) host their own garage sale and see who gets the most money from the sale of their recently purchased items. Seeing Shaq box out "Barkley the Salesman", Arenas/Marbury putting on crazy outfits and demonstrating the product to bypassers while trying to compete with Alba should make this an enjoyable show.

Verdict: This show could be total chaos. The chance that they will agree on what items to buy is as likely as them agreeing on who should take the last shot if they were on the same basketball team.


Let's Make it Happen

While I only have 5 shows listed, there are infinite possibilities. I think the SMG trio are all quite crazy but still make a good tandem - similar to Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Reggie Miller. However, I'm one who feels that three such crazy personalities shouldnt be wasted talking about basketball, there is room and possibility for so much more. They all seem to be interested to be on television, so I dont see why this can't happen. If anyone out there is reading and knows either a TV executive or either one of these three players, please pass them this idea - and make the greatest TV show ever come to life.

Tim Donaghy: The Gift and The Curse

Last week, we learned that our beloved NBA was the latest major sports organization connected with match fixing. You can sure as hell bet on the fact that the last thing David Stern wanted was to be associated with the mafia, fixed gambling, and crooked refs. Since then, much has been said and written with most agreeing that this was a collosal development, yet not very shocking. I personally knew something was wrong when every NBA ref seemed to be an old Italian-American with an attitude. True NBA fans will deeply be hurt by this scandal and think back at past times trying to think whether any of it was actually real. Eventually they will realize this was a good development - like finding out your fiancee was cheating on you.

In fact, dear basketball fans, this was the best thing that could have happened. The improvements you will see in the NBA resulting from this will be monumental - if theres one thing that gets the Sternminator fired up, even more so than brawls, poor ratings, and hiphop culture - its the integrity of his precccciousss league. No only will he want to make changes, he will have to - so at least to the public, it looks like he's doing his best. Here are the 5 improvements that the NBA should and must see.

NBA Cleanup

1) New Refs: Finally its time to cleanout the dinosaurs still left in the NBA and bring in some new blood. I've always wondered why the average NBA referee age was on par with my grandfathers. Surely, eyesight, stamina, and being able to relate to players' psychology (old people forget what its like to be young and crazy) should favor younger people as refs. The League probably rates this 'experience' thing too much, and to be honest refs have made countless mistakes at critical stages of the game, so that point is moot in my book. Furthermore, the longer a ref stays in the league the more of a subconscious bias he builds against players, teams and specific plays. Im not talking about unconscious racial bias, but about histories with certain teams and organizations. A referee who made a mistake against one team might be much more leniant next time a huge play occurs, a ref might not like a certain player due to past games and be less leniant. Like Gilbert Arenas claims to do, players can even analyze refs and see what trends certain refs show, and play accordingly. So, a ref should not stay in the league too long.

New, younger refs will try their hardest to ref the perfect game and stay a NBA ref. Rumour is that all the current refs are quite close to eachother and it is time to break this closed circle apart, time to split the gang. Competition, and having to be at your best to keep your job will most definitely improve officiating as a whole.

2) Transparency: The Turkish football league can be a good example to build on for the NBA. An official watches every game from the stands and rates a referee's performance. Those who score low points do not get to ref as many games. Those who score really low even get a suspension and are taken off refereeing all together for a certain time. These ratings are made availably to the public even. Every week there are a couple dozen TV shows focusing simply on replaying certain calls in that weeks games and analyzing whether the correct decisions were made. Of course ex-refs are in the studio to give 'expert analysis'. In the end, everything is out in the open and much like a player, a ref's actions have consequences and his future relies on his performance.

3) Freedom of Speech: What is up with the NBA and fining players/coaches/GM's for statements they give the press after games. Doesn't this seem abit like communism? Players/Coaches lives are altered by decisions of refs, you would think that they would have the right to voice their oppinion. With the recent developments, the League has no longer any rights to suppress the oppinions of its employees. If you were cheated by your company, wouldn't you feel like you had the right to at least complain about it!

4) Infinite Tolerance Policy: The Stern tyranny introduced a zero tolerance policy at the begninng of last season. This was a way that Stern felt he could keep his trouble-prone players in check and make the game more viewer friendly. Well that was obviously an unforgivable error, but perhaps he had the right idea. However, instead of making the players have no rights on the court it is time to take away that bulletproof vest and crown away from the refs. You look at football, and players yell, scream, and swear at referees without remorse. While there should be limits, it is time to put a stop to this nonsense where referees continiously take center stage. I dont want to hear referees names anywhere, anytime, for any reason. I don't want to see them in allegations, I dont want to see them running in races against ex-players, and I sure dont want to see them teching people up for looking at them the wrong way. They are just there to make sure the game progresses correctly, they need to stop acting like prom queens and getting upset at anyone who doesn't suck up to them. I saw far too many ejections last year, especially in the playoffs and against Golden State. I want to see some proper basketball, and not some middle-aged man in stripes shitting all over it.

5) Fixing the 'stupid' rules: While we are dealing with officiating, we might as well cleanup those rules that just make no sense. The Diaw-Amare suspensions and the 'stepping onto the court as a benchplayer' rule must be changed, that is clearly overdue.

Also, no one except Gilbert Arenas and Dwyane Wade can be happy about the amount of small contact fouls that are called. The search for MJ still continues, but the true heir will never be someone who benefits largely from such tight officiating.

Of course, no one has forgotten the constant fouling of Ben Wallace/Shaq at the end of games fiasco either, I hope. One weak area of a players game should not be enough to force him not to play. Intentionally fouling someone, shouldnt be a way to not only get back in the game but take out the most dominant player to ever play the game.

Last and perhaps least, what is up with the semi circle. I like people getting posterized as much as the next guy, but do we really need to alter game rules to make this possible. There's a reason why FIBA aka 'basketball without the stereoid-like entertainment injections', does not employ this rule. What's next, are we gonna have mini trampolines on different parts of the court?

Whistle has been Blown

Like I said, many good things will happen to the NBA. Perhaps the most important one being that we won't be forced to tear out our hair in frustration over the many non-basketball related fallbacks associated with the NBA. With the proper foundations and infrastructure back in place (rules, refs, policies) we can focus on just enjoying the game. The NBA might see yet another drop in ratings, and refs overall might suffer over all, but that's not something for us to worry about. I wouldn't even support a wage increase for refs, as suggested by some - like $200,000 is not enough salary to have the best nonseat in the house every game. In fact, I may even decide to take up that dream of being an NBA ref afterall.

STATS: Time For a Change

One of my favorite quotes of all time is one by Mr. Albert, not Marv but Einstein: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted". Truer words can not be said for what I think of statistics in basketball. I don't know if it's just that people like to simply things; Kidd is known as Mr. Triple double, Duncan is the double-double machine, LeBron had a sneaker out called 20-5-5 - but stats sure as hell get more attention than they should deserve. It's common habit for people to judge a players performance by looking straight at the boxscore. In a 82 season league with 30 teams, you generally have no alternative unless you are glued to your couch at home and watch League pass every moment of your living day. However, besides single games, whole seasons and MVP races are evaluated using that box score and ultimately the success of a players career. First I want to take a look at the current batch of stats, and then identify some new stats that should be introduced.

Box Score aka Report Card aka KPI

Everyone at every level is judged based on certain aspects. At school you get grades which make up your report card. At work you might have some Key Performance Indicators. In the NBA theres is the boxscore. A couple of numbers in the end summarizes all of your efforts and endeavors. Here's what I think of each stat and how much meaning we should attach to it when we look at them.

Points- This is the number one most important stat in basketball. You have 30 points or more and it doesn't matter if you had 6 airballs, 12 turnovers and played the most selfish basketball in your life - people will think you had a good game. In fact that isn't unlike something players like Kobe and Allen Iverson did for many years. Jerry Stackhouse was a scoring champion, Ricky Davis could average insane amounts at will, and even Ronald Murray had a season where it seemed like he was going to be one of the best scoring players in the league. So basicly it doesnt mean much. Six points scored in crunch time against a good defensive team is much more meaningful that someone who scores 25 in garbage minutes.

Assists- The way an assist is calculated is that a player must take no more than one dribble after a pass is made and score. The reason I know this is because I would always complain at our stats keeper in high school that she didnt count my assists correctly. In fact, there are so many things wrong with this stat I don't know where to begin. First of all it includes as an assist many instances where the person who passed the ball might not have done anything significant. Imagine Smush Parker passes the ball to Kobe, Kobe takes couple of seconds to eye down his opponent and throw a couple of jab steps, then he dribbles takes one step back and hits a fade away three. Assist goes to Smush Parker. Now imagine theres a 2 vs 3 fastbreak and Steve Nash cleverly misleads the 3 defenders and passes to a wide open Amare Stoudamire, and Amare dunks the ball in after two quick dribbles - Nash gets no assist. These two examples hopefully help point out the problems associated with trying to track how well a player is setting up his teammates. I'm not even going to get into the whole, 'PG creates a perfect setup and Center misses a layup' argument.

Rebounds- I'm always surprised at how much attention this stat gets. I can bring in a tall Mongolian freak of nature who has never stepped onto a basketball court before, and he can get 10 boards easy in a single game. Well in fact this has already been done with the likes of Gheorge Mursan. This stat almost encourage players to play the wrong way - the person who boxes out the player gets no credit while the guy who doesn't and goes for the board does. Again, the context in which you grab a rebound is also not considered. A rebound from a center after an uncontested free-throw gets the same credit as a person who jumps over three players and manages to grab the board.

Steals and Blocks- These stats are okay I guess but many times a player gets a steal due to the defensive efforts of his other teammates. Similarly, a block is often achieved my a player intentionally leading his defensive assignment to where his big men can swat the ball.

FG/FT/3PT %: Perhaps the most useful of the stats, as it gives you exactly it says it will. Percentages can be misleading depending on what kind of team you play for, what kind of looks you get, and even small things such as launching shots at the end of buzzers. Last year's FG% leader was Mikki Moore of the Nets, but yet he isnt a remarkable shooter by any means, he just ends up shooting alot of easy shots (dunks).

Thinking Outside the Box Score

Charges- I've heard people mention that Battier leads the league in charges taken, but I'm not sure if theres an official sheet with everybody's charges. If so I would definitely like to see it. Taking a charge might be the most impressive single feat in basketball. Think about it, you sacrifice your body so that MAYBE you can get the win the ball for your team. If that doesn't embody everything that is basketball, I don't know what does. So please, lets start keeping track of this stat and include it as a separate column in the box score.

Crunch Time- NBA.com and Nestle had a neat tracking of performance in the game when it really mattered, but I don't see it anymore. Their execution wasnt perfect, but it was as close to tracking players' clutch ability as I have ever seen using numbers. 82games.com also had a FG% for game winning shots which was also interesting to see. More of this needs to be officially tracked.

Setup- As I mentioned earlier, assists aren't a good indication of how well the PG does his job because it varies with how well his players shoot the ball as well as other factors. So a new stat can be introduced where we track how many clear cut scoring opportunities a player prepares for his teammates. The immediate objection would be that it's subjective to a specific person how 'clear-cut' the scoring opportunity is. However such minor subjective takes doesnt prevent sports like tennis from having "Unforced Errors" stats from being displayed.

Hustle Play- Among the most important plays in the course of a basketball game is hustle plays. These are plays that sometimes singlehandedly change the momentum of a game. Imagine Ben Wallace plays extremely good defense on one end of the court and forces a player to travel. On the other side he jumps into the crowd and saves a ball from going out leading to a basket. Here, Ben Wallace provides his team with a 4 point swing, but his box score hasn't changed.

Defensive Stop- Back when Ron Artest was in Indiana, an intern had calculated what Ron Artest's defensive assignment's field goal percentage was. Along with this, how many stops vs. scores he let in should be tracked. So at any given time we can see a player's defensive stop %. Another category can be added for how many turnovers he forced.

Statisticly Speaking

While stats do a good job giving us a general picture, it is something we have begun to rely too heavily on. So if this is the case, changes and additions need to be made to the way we keep stats. We can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to all the plays that dont show up on the stats sheet, for we may devalue those who specialize in those areas, areas that take the most effort and will. If we do make some of these changes I have proposed, and consider the currents stats with a grain of salt like Ive indicated, we may be in a world of surprise..

An Open Letter to Etan Thomas

Dear Etan,

When I first read your letter to Andrew Bogut, I didn’t know how to react. I mean, the things you said were mostly correct, but that’s not what got me thinking. What did get me thinking is why in the world is Etan Thomas writing about this. Your reason seems to be that ESPN didn’t give it enough coverage. While I know for a fact the TrueHoop section at ESPN covered it as well as you would have probably liked, this apparently wasn’t enough for you. You wanted to make sure the whole world knew how wrong Bogut was with his claims. While I haven’t read your work in the past, it seems that you really want to get into politics and writing. Your book “More than an Athlete” kind of reinforces my point. So is it possible that you are using Andrew Bogut for this goal? Is it possible you are using the current unstable political climate in America to draw fans to your writing? Or maybe I got it all wrong, and this is just something that has really been bothering you.

Lets see, a 22 year old clueless NBA player tells a fellow Aussie reporter that things are different in America, that NBA players like to spend money, star in rap videos, and have multiple girlfriends. Is this really so far from the truth? Why do you even care, it’s not bad to spend your money in this way, no one can tell any other person that he’s not spending his money correctly unless he is hurting someone else. If I go out and earn money, I can spend it on anything and everything I want, that is my fundamental right. I’ll go out and build a castle out of chocolate bars if I want to. Then of course there’s the generalizations, the number 1 non politically correct thing you can do. Bogut really made your job too easy on this one. I can make a generalization that’s true for 95% of the country and still the bullshit associated with “political correctness” will prevent me from saying that, but anyways that’s another topic in of itself. At the end of the day, he exaggerates and makes generalizations but so what? This isn’t some Australian politician talking, its Andrew Bogut. A clueless jerk who has the balls to criticize NBA players spending habits in the same interview where he explains his love for poker and casinos.

So then all that’s left is Andrew Bogut and his elitist and uneducated assessment of American culture. While I understand Americans feel insecure and unloved in this recent era of political turmoil, do you really think that blatantly attacking and dismantling a 22 year old clueless kid is going to solve your problem? Do you really think nitpicking his obviously flawed arguments, facts, and points is going to help anything other than show what useless tool Bogut is. Everyone knows how intelligent you are with your posts and thoughts, but I think you need to pick someone of your own size and weight if you catch my meaning. Your letter was easily a heavyweight knocking out a lightweight – and in the field of politics, much like in boxing, this is not a correct way of attaining your ambitions.

Knowing When to Call it Quits

Every other movie that’s coming out these days seems to have a number after its name. Actually most recently, ‘movie title thinkers’ – if such a sweet job exists – have combated this trend by having new names to their sequels. Rocky 37 became “Rocky Balboa”, Die Hard 4 became… “Die Hard 4.0” and “Live Free or Die Alone”. I don’t even know what that Die Hard name fiasco was all about but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. Long story short, everything and anything that’s good and can be repeated somehow, gets done so until the cow is out of milk. The same can be said about Basketball players. Those Got Milk? Commercials – they were actually aimed at the stars in the ad. Who was the last notable NBA player to retire at his peak? That’s a question I’m going to let you ponder over, while I take a look back at all those players who just should have quit while they were still bright in our minds.

Late Exit

Michael Jordan
I went to psychiatrists, hypnotists, even joined scientology cults and had a brainwash – but still haven’t managed to remove this tragedy from my memory. Why MJ, WHYYY! As cliché as it has gotten, you had a perfect story book ending. Spielberg, Clancy, Dan Brown, and Shakespeare couldn’t have joined forces and created such an engrossing tale. The only thing that helps me sleep at night is that shot you hit in the All-Star game over Marion. Thank god the Matrix didn’t swat that shot cross court onto Jay-Z’s mug – that would have been two birds with one stone really. For those of you who manage to trick themselves that he did a good job and helped the Wizards….what can I say, I envy you.

Scottie Pippen
Why won’t Pippen just leave the NBA? I didn’t mind his stint in Houston or Portland, he wasn’t the Pip we all loved but he had plans I guess. Then I find out those plans are to go back to the Bulls, try his luck at NBA.com journalist aka spy, and now he wants back in the L again. The GM’s that denied his requests deserve a medal of some sort. Medal of Fresh Milk.

Dennis Rodman
Having 3 players from the greatest team ever on this list wasn’t my original intention, but that’s what happens when you don’t think about your future!! (That was my subtle attempt to give them a dose of their own medicine). Not much can be said about the Worm, and he can’t really blamed either. He’s just trying to play for as many teams as possible so he can a) try to beat Wilt’s record of….most NBA cheerleaders impregnated and b) be the only player to have worn all jersey numbers.

Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill
Both huge heroes of mine back in the day. Their final years in the NBA just makes me a sad old man trying to fight away the pain by trying to vaguely remember the good times of what seems like ages ago.


Any Great NBA Center
If you start having to freeze your knees in order to play – that’s probably a good sign to call it quits.

Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone
One turned into a fat depressed suicidal drug addict, the other into a perverted old border-line pedophilic backstabber. Exaggeration never hurts anybody.

Clyde Drexler
Ball room dancing might not be basketball, but it’s still a sport!

Dikembe Mutombo, Chris Webber, Half of the Miami Heat Roster etc
These are guys you would have thought retired looong ago, in fact you probably think they did retire if you don’t pay close attention to the NBA. Sadly, just when we think we have eliminated them - they reappear, in a new city, in a new disguise, ready to inflict pain on anyone crazy enough to think legends exist.

Final Word

So while I would like the greats that I looked up to stay heroic in my mind, this is not the world we live in. In fact, a little part of me wanted MJ to come back, regardless of how bad he was going to be. This is my short term half of the brain, taking over my long term half. When all is said and done, it’s the players that make the decisions. Their reasons are valid too; they have nothing else to do, they want to secure their financial (luxurious) future, they want that championship ring, and above all their love for the game. While it is fans like you and me that keep this sport alive, and are the ones that the league needs to please – it’s not to say that nothing good can come out of this player habit.

Look at Alonzo Mourning. He was very close to being a top candidate for this list, instead his long stay made him out to be a much more loved player than he was at his ‘physical peak’. He’s been an inspiration beyond basketball. Same thing can be said about Magic Johnson. He battled through AIDS in his body, in his personal life, in the public media, and finally on the basketball court. You look at any of the current veteran players that stay in the NBA by accepting near minimum contracts and that is another source of inspiration and excitement. Yes, I would like them to blow by their opponents and throw down dunks like they used to do when they were young. However, like a lot of other things in life, the older something gets the more value it collects. Wisdom, experience, leadership, perseverance – these are some of the things we would be missing out on if we focused solely on physical capabilities. These are all my opinions of course, and so I leave you to judge this case for yourself, before I outstay my welcome.

A Looong Early Look at the USA Dream Team 2007

Warning: if you didn't catch the drift from the title, please stop reading if you have no interest in the USA Dream Team, thanks. Now for those of you who try to catch as much of the drama around the Dream Team as possible, well hopefully this will give you some things to dwell upon before the days leading to the FIBA Americas Championship (August 22). Last year, several losses at the World Championships and Gilbert's antics were enough to keep me refreshing that ESPN website more than a sane person should be allowed to. This year, while things can't possibly top what we saw last year(or can it?), there are still ample of things to look forward to. Without further adieu, let's take a sneak peak at this years Dream Team and the things that will put either a smile or frown on your face.

The Contestants

Starting off, seven players from last year have been deemed 'unavailable': Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards); Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks); Brad Miller (Sacramento Kings); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Chris Paul (Oklahoma Hornets); Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics) and Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat). The biggest loss here is no doubt Arenas. He spent a whole season getting revenge from the coaches that basicly cut him from last years squad. Would have been interesting to see how things played out. Wade is another person that will be missed as a "Kobe, Wade, LeBron, Carmelo" battle royal would have made good pay-per-view.

To replace these players, the following 8 have been added: Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz); Tyson Chandler (New Orleans Hornets); Kevin Durant (Seattle SuperSonics); Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets); Mike Miller (Memphis Grizzlies); Greg Oden (Portland TrailBlazers); Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).

When I look at these 8 players, first thing that comes to mind is "this would make a good group of Big Brother contestants". But lets look at each of these players and how they can impact the team.

For Durant and Oden, this will be like an internship - just go in there and learn as much as you can, but know that nobody gives a sh!t about you, just yet. Boozer is very similar to Brand, but he's shown how dominant he can be when left unchecked, definitely an asset. Chandler was thrown in there because USA lacks a true center besides Howard and is one of those players that can fit in well in a team full of superstars. Kidd is the mystery man, he could be everything the Dream Team has been missing, or everything that has brought them down. Mike Miller will be that player capable of doing everything the team needs, will play as hard as he can, and wont complain about minutes(((he will also fill out that white-player quota))). Tayshaun Prince is just a freak of nature, I cant and dont even want to try to envision him in anything other than a Pistons jersey.Deron Williams is a great addition, and even if its not this year, he will be running the Dream Team in years to come.

The players who were already on the roster are: Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Shane Battier (Houston Rockets); Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons); Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors); Bruce Bowen (San Antonio Spurs); Elton Brand (Los Angeles Clippers); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Kirk Hinrich (Chicago Bulls); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Antawn Jamison (Washington Wizards); Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns); Adam Morrison (Charlotte Bobcats) Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks); J.J. Redick (Orlando Magic); Luke Ridnour (Seattle SuperSonics); and Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns).

Only 12 of these players can make the cut. While some of the recent injuries have helped to make the decision a bit easier, its still a daunting task.

Picking the Team

These players have no chance to be on the final roster, so we can go ahead and just take them out: Adam Morrison, JJ Redick, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant. Can we send them all back to college while we're at it? Damn.The starting 5 will probably look something like this: Chauncey Billups, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Amare Stoudamire, Dwight Howard. Thats a beast of a team! Carmelo will be hard to leave out of the starting 5, as he was the best player for the team in the 2006 World Championships, but Kobe and Carmello are both pure scorers so LeBron is a better fit. Elton Brand and Carlos Boozer off the bench is just great anyway you look at it - thats if they dont accidently kill each other in practice. Michael Redd should see some good minutes as he's easily the best shooter on the team. Bruce Bowen should edge out his eternal wannabe, Shane Battier, and make the cut this year if Coach K can put his Duke years behind him. Chris Bosh/Shawn Marion will battle out the 11th spot and I see Marion a must in there since there are plenty of low post scorers already and Marion has that unique skill of being productive without the ball. The last spot will go to a backup PG and the choice will be hard to make with the following options: Kirk Hinrich, Luke Ridnour, Jason Kidd, and Deron Williams. I think Deron Williams should get this spot as he's proved he can hit big shots, and can be surprisingly effective from the FIBA 3 point line area.

Of course, with the disappointing results of the past few years, the coaching staff could shock us all. They could decide its time to focus on shooting (something they have neglected the past couple of years) and go all out and have a starting 5 of Kirk Hinrich, JJ Redick,Adam Morrison, Mike Miller and Antawn Jamison. Well, maybe if Don Nelson was the coach. One thing is for sure, you wont see them cutting the likes of Kobe, LBJ, Melo for any reason whatsoever even if it does seem like the right decision.

How it will play out

Kobe the ..*gulp*.. leader

The inclusion of Kobe Bryant in this years team might seem like a major change for the team, but I am near confident that he will not be the same killer Kobe we are use to seeing. He will take this opportunity to pass the ball, show his unselfishness and try to be that inspirational leader. It will be entertaining to watch Kobe's awkward attempts at being that perfect veteran player on the team - since that clearly isnt what he is. Kobe might also ask for a trade to the Mexican team to feel closer to his wife Vanessa (sorry that was too easy).

Chauncey trying to do too much

Chauncey Billups will be much more of a factor if he can come out of the comma he has been in since the Cavs series. Of course, he can end up ruining the team by jacking up shots, and trying to be more than a point guard should ever be for team USA. Bring up the ball, make the right pass, and hit open shots. That should be the job description of a Dream Team PG.

Carmelo "Ballhog" Anthony

Reason why he has played really well for Team USA in the past is because he's got this inferiority complex. He's not up there with LeBronze, Mamba, Flash - and you can bet he's gona try again this year to prove the public wrong.

Redd Hot!

Nothing to add here

Howard and Amare battle it out for...

While the sound level meter has been a nice touch in the playoffs, I think its time to implement that idea in other parts of the game. One idea would be a 'rim impact meter'. Watching Amare and Dwight compete for the record would be a nice side-game in of itself.

End Result

The Dream Team hasn't really struggled in the past in the FIBA Americas Cup. Argentina, Brazil, and Puerto Rico are the only teams that can legitimately trouble them. A year of chemistry and the addition of some solid players should seal the deal. Their preliminary round group consists of the following teams: Canada, Brazil, Virgin Islands, and Venezuela - nothing to really be worried about. However, Argentina and Brazil are as strong as ever so there will be some entertaining matches along the way.

I can't end this without asking - where is KG, Duncan, Shaq, or Ray Allen? How many more failures can the US team handle before everyone and anyone is held accountable? Oh well, why try and think so far ahead when we can just watch and enjoy the drama as it happens. If there is a basketball god out there, everything I've said will not happen, and then the real fun can start.

10 Predictions for the 2007-2008 NBA Season

After all the hype and talk about what a crazy offseason this was gonna be, Rashard Lewis has been the biggest move of the summer, not so crazy in my book. This kind of makes me think perhaps all those crazy rumors were delicately planned by the League Office to make us forget about the abysmal Finals. Well done. Assuming Kobe wont get traded in a 13 team deal, and KG doesn’t end up in Atlanta for second round picks and some cash – here are my 10 predictions for the 2008 season.


1. The Suns will be crowned 2008 Champs

Yawwwwn....Oh wait, I thought that read Spurs. With the addition of Grant Hill, the Suns get exactly what they need – a veteran to fill up that lack of mental strength, and a solid scorer who can create for himself once Amare is in foul trouble and Nash sleeps on the sidelines (aka rests his back). Remember they were only a couple footsteps away from being the Champs last year. The extra hunger for a championship, addition of a key piece, and the picture of Robert Horry looming over their locker room should be enough to carry them past the aging Spurs.

2. LeBron will become the Nowitzki of 2008 – getting the MVP but crashing out in the 1st Round.
With stats like 27 9 8, three quarters of voters will instinctively give him their vote to King James - despite being unable to sit through a Cavs game without having “Baywatch” on splitscreen. The other quarter will have the mail that they sent in June of 2007 voting for Duncan finally arrive at NBA HQ. The Cavs will lose to the Knicks in the first round and LeBron will have a public meltdown of Kobe proportions.

3. The Golden State Warriors will start off with 13-0 record but the law of injuries will hold them down

With hopefully some rebounding drills under their belt, the GSW will continue where they left off last season, red hot. Baron Davis will be a serious MVP candidate until he has a jaw injury due to his oversized beard. Nelson will get the extra pay he asked for and will give most of it back through fines related to drinking.

4. KG will cry in John Thompson’s arms and will consider retirement

The Garbagewolves will struggle to get any wins and Garnett will reach his boiling point. He will cry on national TV and proclaim that all he ever wanted to do was win (oh wait, he’s done that already?). He will walk out of the press conference when a reporter asks him why he chose to stay in Minnesota.

5. Kobe Bryant will sit out many games, lose that ‘edge’ and finally be traded
Minor injuries will be the reason why Kobe sits out of many games. The fire he had will disappear much like in Game 7 of the First Round of the 2006 Playoffs, and he will regain the title of public enemy number 1.

6. Oden, Durant, Portland, Seattle will all realize they won’t be as good as they thought
Oden will be in many posters with his Nike friends – although sadly for him, not on a Nike poster. Durant will have a field goal percentage in the 30s, but people will say to give him time – perhaps because he is the only thing Sonics fans will see for a loooong time.

7. Gilbert Arenas will finally cross the line
You thought Arenas did some crazy stuff in the past, wait until the 2008 season. Gilbert will decide to do something so crazy that even his blog fans, Halo Team, and the Adidas execs will be screaming – IMPOSSIBLE!.

8. Yao Ming and T-Mac will reenact the Kobe-Shaq feud for our viewing pleasure
If you’re one of those people who watched the LA-Miami Christmas games just to see if Kobe and Shaq would shake hands, well rejoice! Yao Ming will be surprisingly vocal next year and T-Mac will not have it go down easily. Shane Battier will take one for the team and announce it was his fault. T-Mac will be the second most hated person in China after Jack Bauer. Van Gundy will be hooked on popcorn.

9. There will be a massive brawl between Phoenix and San Antonio

Amare will knockout Bowen, Duncan will turn crazy like the robots in iRobot, D’Antoni will bite someones ear off, meanwhile Parker and Diaw will be on the sidelines chatting about Thierry Henry’s latest goal for Barcelona.

10. Weaker teams in the East will have the dilemma of fighting for that 8th Playoff spot or getting a top 3 draft pick

Only a handful of games will separate the East’s bottom 8 team and GM’s will go by that long age instinct that rebuilding to get in the Playoffs in the future, is better than getting in the Playoffs now.

What Could End Up Killing the Sport of Basketball

In 1891, a man by the name of James Naismith invented a sport, inspired by a Canadian children's game called 'Duck on a Rock'. Today this game by the name of Basketball is the world's second most popular sport and enjoyed by millions across the globe and growing everyday. Much progress has been made since the days of Mr. Naismith, so much so that the way we look at the game today, some rules, and expectations are all different than previous times and changing at a rapid pace.

Three point lines that were introduced originally have been put further away, even NCAA lines will increase by a foot next season. Today, it is not uncommon for any big men to become precise shooters from areas where their ancient counterparts would never have event dreamt of shooting from. Days when Sam Perkins was regarded with awe are gone, and today some of the best three point shooters are approaching 7 feet tall. Average heights are up significantly, athleticsim is definitely improving as the NBA slam dunk contest shows every year, and athletes are no doubt better conditioned. 18 year old kids are coming out of high school looking like they are at their peak. All of this change has happened in about a 100 years, not much considering that it has only received major attention in the last couple of decades. So using this 'trend' if you will, lets have a look at the very distant future and determine whether the fate of the sport we love so dearly is in danger. What future developments could end up destroying the game of basketball you ask? Two things mainly: evolution and technology

Evolution

Some might not believe in the biological sense of the word evolution, but like it or not the human race is progressing, constantly. In basketball terms, I already highlighted major changes that have occured in the past. While you may argue that basketball has become more important now and that is the reason why improvements are made - I would ask you to check the 100m race and the history of the world record in that field. Running has been a 'sport' since the beginning of time and we can see that we are able to constantly best ourselves. Now, how can a little evolution kill the sport of basketball you say. Well imagine if you will: if it becomes too easy to make a shot, imagine if people can jump so high that they can jump over players and safely place the ball in the rim, imagine if someone is so tall that he can just stand outside the paint and dunk the ball in everytime without jumping. While these things may sound like science fiction to you there is already players today who - make almost every open shot from far distances (Kapono), who can jump over other players (Carter), very tall (Ming). 100 years from now, who says there wont be someone taller than the current record holder for tallest man at 8'11, or who wont be so athleticly gifted that they become unstoppable. It's like in hockey, imagine there was a man fat enough to cover the whole goal - wouldnt the sport at that point just die?

Technology

Technology can be a double edged sword for Basketball. On one hand technology has the opportunity to fix any human fallbacks that might ruin the sport. For example, recently replay checking has been introduced at the end of quarters to support making the right call. However, what if technology is used to for 'evil' purposes. Gene alterations to become the perfect basketball player, surgery to increase arm length, unseen devices that give players an edge, and other possibilities that I cant possibly envision right now. Nothing is impossible or can be discarded in a multi-billion dollar industry. In sports such as pool/snooker there are already cues that guide you into making the perfect shot everytime, in bowling machines can be used to bowl the perfect game. Nike's Shox lines are already blurring the lines of what technological products can be used to give you an edge. What if the Shox technology gets improved to increase your jumping by 5 inches instead of 0.5? Techonology is advancing at such a staggering pace that nothing in this world is safe, let alone a multi-billion dollar 'game' that is so open to exploitation.

Who/What will save Basketball?

As long as we have David Stern as the NBA's commisioner, there is not much cause for concern. He will be there at every dangerous juncture and make sure his empire is not left in crumbles. Technology that is deemed to give an unfair advantage will be quickly banned much in the way that stereoids has been banned in many sports. Rule changes will be made once a player or some players 'break' the sport. Shaq did this back in the day, and different rules have been adjusted throughout history to make the game play better. So if that 10'6 giant comes one day and decides to score everytime down the floor, the commish will make sure to widen the paint so he can no longer reach it without fear of the 3 second rule. Yes, the Sternbot is here to save us all from that day where basketball no longer exists - until of course aliens/mutants/live robots appear...but dont worry, thats too far fetched even by my standards!

Rights of an NBA Franchise Player

Among the 3 biggest stories in this quite hectic off season besides the NBA draft has been the trade demands of 3 notable Franchise players. It first came with Kobe’s public meltdown as the boiling point had been reached with a handful of appalling moves, or should I say non-moves by the LA organization. While the media generally agreed that Kobe had reason to be upset, few supported his public outcry trashing an organization that had stuck by him for so many years. Soon after it was KG making headlines as the loyal Timberwolf, while not announcing it publicly like Kobe, decided it was time to move on. The general public and media couldn’t hold anything against Garnett – even if he set fire to the Target Center, few could blame him as he literally spent his whole career single-handedly trying to carry his Wolves past their inevitable mediocre fate. Much below the radar as a result of all the drama of this summer, Paul Pierce joined in on the fun and gave the ultimatum “Get help or trade me”.


Franchise Players

This latest fad by NBA franchise players has sparked an interesting debate, well I believe it should anyways, on what actual rights do these NBA franchise players have? Can they ask for anything? How many years do they have to serve before being a sellout?

I’m not going to draw this out and assume there is a long winded out answer. The answer is simple. Franchise player or not, you have no right to ask for a trade. Let me rephrase that as this is a free country after all – you CAN ask for a trade, but unless your contract states so, the GM can tell you to shut the F up and go to practice like every other player on the roster. You think Carlos Boozer cared enough about the Cavs after getting drafting to not stab them in the back for a resign? You think Grant Hill cared to give his last years helping out an Orlando team in need of a veteran after he spent the last numerous years eating away all the salary cap space. No, this industry is not about compassion, its not about ethics, its about hard cold cash and business. NBA teams are businesses and NBA players are businessman. Each try to squeeze as much out of the other as possible. Of course you have exceptions: aged stars joining teams at mid level exceptions for that final shot a ring, teams hiring old players into the organization – but these are the exceptions and not the rule.

Looking at Today’s Real World Through Our 3 Current Cases

Kobe Bryant has been cleverly tricked by Buss and the LA organization to sign a multiple year contract under false pretenses. While Kobe wants to win, Buss is more concerned about selling tickets, keeping Showtime in LA, and slowly rebuilding in the process. For him it’s a perfect situation. For Kobe, a public outcry of legendary magnitude was perhaps the only way to get any heads turning – a quiet request through his agents would have undoubtedly been ‘lost in the mail’. So in the end you have Buss’s trap versus Kobe’s ambitions. In the end I really can’t blame Kobe, although the way he went about it is definitely questionable. Buss’s conniving trap is now wide in the open, and Kobe really forced his hand to the point where keeping Kobe might not be in LA’s best long term interest!

For KG I think it is a no-brainer. The guy is the most loyal franchise player in recent memory and despite all his efforts and struggles, it is evident that the team still needs to start from scratch and rebuild. There is no point keeping KG around for that so I see his trade as benefiting both sides.

Paul Pierce falls into a weird position in this situation because he 1) didn’t get cheated over like Kobe 2) didn’t serve as long as KG 3) isn’t as good as these two players and hence does he really belong in a championship team? I know this is a hard pill to swallow for Pierce fans but there are only a handful of Championship Franchise Players around: (Kobe, KG, Duncan, LeBron, Wade). These are players that when they are on any team, they immediately give the team championship hope. Paul Pierce is sadly not on the list, so his request seems a little unwarranted in my eyes. While this is an extreme example, imagine if Josh Smith asked for help on the Hawks or he wants to be traded – just isn’t right is it?


Business is Business, but can PR help?

In the end, the NBA like any other high profile business environment, is a cutthroat industry where everyone will try to maximize their own personal goals. The one recent development in today’s world is the concept of PR. This has proved to be important enough that these cutthroat environments are forced to tone down in the light of the public eye. So at the end of the day, hopefully the NBA fans’ presence will be sufficient in helping organizations be less ruthless, and NBA players being more ethical – if not, then TRADE ME!

Understanding Kobe Bryant

Much has been said and written about Kobe Bryant, but underneath all the press, underneath all the drama – there lies a story yet to be told. You and I, the average NBA fan, and the hordes of media and league representatives with their opinions on Kobe Bryant, never truly analyze his situation with enough compassion, with enough insight. We don’t try to understand what goes on his mind, or even give him the benefit of the doubt. What we think of when we think of Kobe are the following words: Feud with O’Neal, criticized in Phil Jackson’s Book, bad teammate, the rape charge, 81 points, #24, ballhog, 40 PPG months, early playoff exits, and now… ‘crybaby asking for trades’. Let me tell you how I went from being Kobe’s biggest hater, to his biggest supporter. Perhaps, this approach can shed a light on Kobe that will at least lead you to question those predispositioned negative thoughts on the man few have attempted to understand.

Kobe the Unproven
Kobe came into the 1996 draft, arguably the best NBA draft in history, with a handful of highschool records and a large pair of sunglasses. I didn’t actually watch the Draft, but as a young kid addicted to basketball cards, one look at his rookie card with the huge grin and sunglasses immediately caught my attention. This entrance to the league came across as cocky to me, and throughout his rookie year I began to hate him more and more and the airballs he threw up against Utah in the playoffs satisfied the basketball purist in me: “Who does he think he is…” was my opinion at that time. Years passed and Kobe still wasn’t impressing me too much. Sure he had insane talent, but with MJ around there wasn’t any easily earned respect to throw around, especially for someone that hadn’t proved anything significant.

Kobe the Proven
The new millennium made it hard to be a Kobe hater. However, it was still doable and largely done. Kobe did win 3 championships, he did have some unbelievable performances, he did get called the best player ever by Shaquille O’Neal. However, The Diesel was the fuel feeding all the haters. They criticized him for arguing with Shaq, despite the fact that Kobe was the one working hard and Shaq was the one sitting out due to toe injuries and such and still getting all the praise at the end of the day. Getting a championship ring is the biggest goal in the NBA – that is unquestionable. So when a player gets 3, let alone one, you would expect people to respect the player in question – no ifs or buts. This wasn’t the case for Kobe, the haters were still loaming around and still not giving him his due. The rape charge came, haters grew even more. Then Shaq got traded and Kobe was held responsible for breaking the dynasty, which now we know isn’t even true. Then, following his disappointments in the Shaq-Less Lakers, Kobe got ridiculed by anyone and everyone in the league. Even Ray Allen, a soft overpaid superstar with no major achievements, took shots at him. The future MJ- had become - a complete JOKE.

This was the point for me. This is when I realized that – yea he’s arrogant, yea he’s not the best leader, ok perhaps he’s a bit selfish for wanting to establish a legacy – but GOD DAMN stop with all the hate! I don’t really know what really transpired, I guess its like when a couple of kids are picking on this guy at school, and at first you don’t mind joining in because you don’t really like the kid, but then the bullying turns into beatings and then you back off and go “Wow, what the hell is going on here…”. I guess you can say, I felt for the dude. So began my transformation – the 7 steps to accepting Kobe Bryant..

The 7 Steps of Accepting Kobe Bryant

Step 1: Accepting that Kobe is skillfully, the best ever

In my book, purely skill based, Kobe is ahead of Jordan. I know a lot of people will try to bury the bad memories of MJ – but he was a poor 3pt shooter, and even a worse dribbler – both areas that Kobe excels in. Kobe is more athletic, stronger, and has more stamina. Kobe and MJ are both multiple All-Defensive guys, but Kobe can actually withstand the banging of some power forwards. You look at the arsenal of moves, and you will realize that MJ relied the majority of the time on fadeaway jumpers, while Kobe gives you something new everytime down the floor. In other areas such as clutch, basketball IQ, desire to win – I think they are relatively equal.

Step 2: Accepting that the most skillful player ever, feeds off of achievements and respect

When you’re arguably the best person ever to do what you do, motivation must be hard to come by. Imagine that you’re a in a tag team wrestling team. Also imagine that all the other current wrestlers are the size of 12 year old kids except for your teammate (bear with me). You win the trophy with your partner, but he gets all the praise. At this time, you could keep staying with your current teammate who you know isn’t as good as you, or you could join another team and establish to everyone you are the best ever. What motivation would you have staying on the same team when winning a championship – the one thing that is suppose to grant you all the respect and hence give you the motivation, does not in fact give you that. People who are the best do not wish to stay good, they want to be great. Kobe won three championships but no one gave him enough respect, the rings always came with the “Because of Shaq” asterisk.

Step 3: Accepting that Kobe doesn’t have the type of players that you need to be successful

Lets be frank here, the LA Lakers, even if they had someone like Michael Jordan in Kobe’s role would not be a championship team. You got a streetball type PG who cant hit open shots, you got Kwame Brown who is good for nothing except turnovers and laziness on D, you got Lamar Odom who doesn’t fit at all into the sidekick role with his unique skillset, and you got a bench who don’t even belong in the NBDL. You add the power of the West to the equation, and you have got to wonder how anyone would expect the Lakers to be good at all.

Step 4: Accepting that Kobe, ultimately, wants to win

Recently on his website, Kobe had the following line “Winning is not something I can sacrifice when it comes to Basketball”. You can see he plays his heart out, he probably works harder than anyone in the offseason, you can see the pain written on his face when they are losing. You can see all this, or you can just choose to hate and say he is a ballhog and doesn’t care for his teammates. Kobe has done it all, scored ridiculous amounts, hit all the big shots, made all the big plays. It is obvious now, and we perhaps saw this the most last year in the playoffs, that Kobe doesn’t mind passing to his teammates, he would love to if they could just hit the shots. But then you look at the reality, you look at the percentages, and its just not smart for him not to be a ballhog. He can’t be Lebron on his team, people somehow don’t realize this. In fact, most recently in the NBA Finals we saw that an average team still does need its superstar to behave like a superstar. Nash didn’t change from when he was in Dallas, he just got a much better team. Kobe realized he wasn’t going to get championships in his current team so has asked for a trade (or LA organization to make some key changes). Selfish? Perhaps Logical? Most Definitely.

Step 5: Accepting that all the negatives we see in him, we have ignored with the other greats

Jordan and Magic commited adultery. Jordan yelled at teammates constantly. Bird was antisocial. Countless greats asked for trades or specific requirements. Kobe is a victim of his poor PR tendencies. He is not good dealing with the press, his heart and mouth get the better of his brain, and he says things he shouldn’t – the media consequently eats him alive.

Step 6: Accepting that the National Basketball Association is deteriorating into entertainment

Many people will find no problem with this. Most, hopefully, will rather it stays a sport. What does Kobe have to do with this? Everything. Kobe, the warrior who has put his heart, soul, and blood into the sport gets turned into a nationwide joke for some cheap soap opera ratings for the League, while LeBron is being turned into a God for having one good playoff game.

Step 7: Accepting that we are ruining the best thing in basketball right now

Last but definitely not least, is what we as spectators are doing to damage the game of basketball. Kobe has two types of followers outside Los Angeles: the clueless NBA newbies who have just heard of Kobe scoring 81 points, seen all his fancy dunks, and go out and buy his jersey. Then you got the deep basketball lovers; the people who view basketball players like artists and appreciate what they can do, the people who believe that being a total player and playing both sides of the floor is crucial, the people that have nothing but respect when someone breaks down crying after losing a playoff series, and the people like me who want to give respect only when a player has earned it. Kobe Bryant is one of those players today, not getting his due. He is being wasted. The media is turning him into a monumental loser, when he should be made into a legend.

Do the Right Thing

If I came up to you and told you there was this guy, and that he was the most talented player in basketball, the hardest working, and the most hungry to win….you would first think of Michael Jordan. If then I told you it had to be a current player, who would you think of? If you’re a basketball fan first, and you think it’s Kobe Bryant, then perhaps like me, you can accept his offcourt shortcomings, and appreciate what is really important. Basketball is basketball…leave the rest to those who cant appreciate the game of basketball for what it is.