ESPN’s “The Sports Guy,” Bill Simmons, has put it best so far, in my mind – LeBron has three ephemeral ideas he can choose at this juncture.  He can choose loyalty, winning, or immortality.  Now, I’m not as reliant on hyperbole as Simmons is, but I think it’s a pretty much accepted fact that LeBron has the most physical gifts – and mastery over said gifts – of anyone playing basketball on the planet Earth right now, and some would say, ever.  I’m not saying he’s the BEST player, right this very second, but I AM saying that, depending on what he decides, he could end up being the best EVER, if you quantify that sort of thing by the number of league titles a player accumulates over the course of his career.  With that said, I’ll try to analyze the three ideas LeBron can select between, and based on what I/we think we know about LeBron, offer up a suggestion for King James’s next move.

Ever since Cleveland landed the #1 pick in the 2003 NBA draft, LeBron’s career has seemed, well…. a little predetermined.  Honestly, I don’t know why there’s not a conspiracy theory floating around about a “frozen envelope” for the 2003 draft, because LeBron and Patrick Ewing (of the frozen envelope theory fame) aren’t even comparable.  LeBron grew up in Akron, led St. Vincent / St. Mary’s to national prominence with his best friends his senior season (the movie about this is actually really entertaining…and enlightening, too), and moved right on to the NBA only a short drive down the interstate to Cleveland, a town famous for sporting-related disappointments.  Despite his undeniable star appeal, LeBron’s carefully cultivated an “aw shucks” demeanor designed to make him more marketable.  After all, the best way to sell a 6’8″ 260+ lb African-American man to America-at-Large is to make him seem like someone you’d love to have over for dinner, because he’d probably bring a casserole. The fans in Cleveland love him, partially because he’s local, and partially because they’ve been let down so many times before.  They’ve almost successfully talked themselves in to believing that he’ll stay, just because he cares so deeply about their feelings, and he’s been warned (indirectly) about how much his leaving without a championship would hurt them.  He made a big show of accepting his MVP trophy this season in Akron, and referred to himself as “just a boy from Akron” multiple times. Personally, I think that’s a little messed-up. LeBron, to me, seems like a really nice, caring, empathetic person.  Cleveland seems like the girlfriend who’s MOSTLY OK, and not actively difficult to be with, but you’re afraid to break up with her because she’s dropped some not-so-subtle hints about bad things happening in that event.  It’s not that you don’t want to be with the girlfriend, because she’s hot, she’s a good girlfriend, she cares about you… but she’s got you “locked in,” for lack of a better term because you actually do care about her feelings and well-being, and begin to feel an obligation to be with her to prevent her feelings from being hurt and her well-being from going South.  We’ve all been there….am I right?  Am I right?  It’s unfortunate, because that can ruin even the best relationships.  You’re with someone because you want to be – not because you feel like you have to be.  ”Obligation” implies work, and even though LeBron James is a professional basketball player, basketball (and the accompanying lifestyle it provides) is supposed to be fun.  Loyalty is great if it’s YOUR choice, but loyalty out of obligation only breeds resentment.  I’ve seen multiple relationships fail for that specific reason – romantic and otherwise – and one of the most relevant examples I can come up with is that of Kevin Garnett.

The Big Ticket, KG himself, has gone on record with advice to LeBron: “Loyalty is something that hurts you at times, because you can’t get youth back,” Garnett said…. “I can honestly say that if I could go back and do my situation over, knowing what I know now with this organization, I’d have done it a little sooner…”  That’s sage advice from one of the stand-up guys in the NBA, and one who’s career can be compared to LeBron’s fairly effectively.  Garnett was a straight-outta-HS phenomenon when he was drafted 5th in 1995 by the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Garnett was also the first player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years, paving the way for players like LeBron.  In his 3rd season, as his rookie deal was set to expire, Garnett agreed to a 6-year, $126 million contract, unprecedented at that time.  As a great player with incredible expectations placed on his shoulders immediately after being drafted, Garnett can really relate to what LeBron’s probably feeling right now, and Garnett felt like rewarding the faith the Timberwolves had shown in him by agreeing to the extension.  He was richly rewarded financially, of course, but his team in Minnesota was never really built to compete for a championship, and Garnett’s incredibly large contract ended up becoming a handicap to the Timberwolves in that they couldn’t sign other top-tier players because under the salary cap rules, they simply didn’t have the money to pay other elite players.

Now, Garnett was certainly not WRONG in signing the huge, long-term extension, but now he looks on that decision with regret.  He said himself that he can’t get his youth back, and although he’s earned one championship since moving to the Boston Celtics 3 years ago, the euphoria he experienced after winning was a stark contrast to the consistent years of just barely missing the playoffs, or else losing in the first round and never being considered serious contenders with Minnesota has apparently had Garnett re-evaluating what is important to him in his professional career.  Sure, money is wonderful.  Being a millionaire, like most NBA players, would be a dream come true for anybody.  I tend to think that once I reach a certain level of financial security, however, everything else in addition to that would just be added benefits, since as long as my tastes stayed reasonably the same, I’d be able to afford whatever I wanted for the rest of my life.  Garnett’s already made that kind of money, but at the end of the day, his legacy hinges on his winning.  Winning even one NBA championship as the focal point of your team cements your place in history, but winning multiples ensures your name’s mention among the game’s greats.  If Garnett manages to win another championship this season, I guarantee his career will be considered in an entirely different light.  Once you’ve got “money,” like LeBron already has – forever, if he’s even a little bit smart – then the next thing you look to for fulfillment is what you’ve produced.  And, so far, what LeBron’s produced is some positive feelings in the Cleveland fans, some disappointment locally as well as nationally for falling short of a title every season, and a lot of sneakers sold for Nike. This season, the Cavaliers COULD have won a championship, but they didn’t – and with the same roster a year older next year, I wouldn’t have considered them favorites even if they did win and everyone returned.  That team’s not built to be a dynasty, and a big part of that is because with a player like LeBron commanding the salary that he does, other players who would elevate the team to that status simply aren’t affordable.

No, I think LeBron should go for the legacy.  That’s what drives Kobe Bryant, and that’s what has made him the penultimate player in the NBA today — maybe not the BEST right this second skill-wise, but certainly the premier player in the entire league.  Kobe and LeBron are entirely different people; that much is obvious from their on-court demeanor.  They’re both great players at very different stages of their careers, but the biggest difference between the two men is what motivates them.  Kobe has ALWAYS been motivated by legacy.  Ever since he came in to the NBA as a high-school phenom, he’s planned on being the best to ever play the game.  Even as he was playing Scottie Pippen to Shaquille O’Neal’s Michael Jordan on the early-2000′s Laker Dynasty, the chemistry on that team was always an issue.  Everyone could tell that Kobe wasn’t going to be happy being the second banana forever, or even for very long, and that came in to conflict with Shaq’s own substantial ego, resulting in the early destruction of a team that could have won three more titles, and Miami and Dwyane Wade earning one before Shaq ran out of gas.

The Lakers have shown loyalty to Kobe, but interestingly enough, he hasn’t always shown undying loyalty to them.  He’s stuck with them for basically his whole career (save from the brief period he was a Charlotte Hornet in name only), but he’s only stuck with them because he’s re-evaluated them every season, and determined that staying in Los Angeles is his best option for winning another championship that season, and multiple championships as the star are what drives Kobe, because he knows if he gets enough, he will HAVE to be considered the best.  However, rumors of Kobe going to the Chicago Bulls, or the Los Angeles Clippers, as a free-agent or even in a trade, reared their head as recently as a few years ago, when Kobe had begun to believe that the players Los Angeles’s management had surrounded him with simply weren’t going to cut it.  He had no problem calling out the Lakers management or even calling out his teammates specifically, as he has notably done on Andrew Bynum numerous times.  That’s the biggest difference between Kobe and LeBron – Kobe doesn’t mind being feared to get what he wants, while LeBron seems to be driven – at least to this point – by an overpowering need to be loved. Could you imagine LeBron making some of the awful faces Kobe has been known to make because of his teammates’ perceived ineptitude in games?  I couldn’t.  Kobe’s an employee of an organization furthering his own agenda – LeBron is his teammates’ best friend.  There’s nothing wrong with either approach, but considering the expectations heaped upon LeBron’s shoulders and his universal acclaim as the most gifted basketball player in a generation, LeBron could benefit from taking a page from Kobe’s book.

Could you imagine what would happen if LeBron had a press conference and said “Cleveland’s management has let me down by not putting the correct pieces in place for me to win the championships I expect to in this uniform.  Unless serious changes are made to our personnel, I’m going to seek my fortune elsewhere.”   Sure, he’d be blasted as a spoiled athlete – AT FIRST.  Kobe was, too.  But look what happened.  The Lakers brought in Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, brought back Derek Fisher, and allowed Andrew Bynum the appropriate time to develop, and the reaction to Kobe’s “spoiled athlete” press conference is ancient history.  Now the Lakers are the favorites to win their 2nd championship in a row, furthering Kobe’s personal agenda as well as the team’s.

In his post-game press conference shortly after his unceremonious elimination in game 6 by the Boston Celtics, LeBron stated that he and his “team” have a gameplan regarding his free agency, and they’re “going to execute it.”  Many have speculated that LeBron’s “game plan” involves consultation with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, two other top-tier free agents available this summer and teammates and friends of LeBron’s dating from their time on gold medal-winning “Redeem Team” in 2008.  The possibility of the three of them joining together on one team exists, however remote due to the salary each could individually command.  However, there’s an angle to this option that I don’t think has been explored effectively enough yet that I’d like to throw out there, in terms of “legacy.” It’s generally accepted knowledge that LeBron, as well as Wade and Bosh, will command “max salary” this off-season; meaning, they will earn literally as much money as players are allowed to earn based on the rules of the NBA.  Considering the presence of the salary cap, this would likely be preventative towards the three players joining forces in one city.  The accepted logic behind this being that your financial legacy and family’s long-term future are the most important things you can insure, and making as much money as possible while your value is at its highest is the logical, obvious way to go about doing this. But, I disagree. Like I said earlier, once you have “MONEY,” then the idea of adding more millions to an already hundreds-of-millions-deep money vault is almost imperceptible (at least in my broke-ass imagination).  LeBron, as well as Wade and Bosh, don’t HAVE to take the max contracts.  They can sign for whatever they want — they could play for the league minimum, if they WANTED to.  If the three of them, or even more than that as other marquee free agents will be moving teams this summer, like Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire, Ray Allen, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, etc. – if a group of “elite” players decided to, together, sign with one team, long term, sacrificing some (probably substantial) personal salary wages for the sake of legacy, they actually COULD play together.

What’s actually preventing this from having happened already, with other superstars in the past, really, other than the need to get as much money as you can while you can get it?  That shouldn’t be the only argument against it.  If Michael Jordan hadn’t won six championships, would he be as wealthy as he is today?  I guarantee you that a large portion of Jordan’s net worth comes from extra-curricular activities.  Winning six championships catapulted Jordan from “great basketball player” to “ubiquitous American personality.”  Hell, my little sister used to make up stories about “Michael Jordan flying her to the moon” when she was 3 years old, just because she’d already had it burned in to her brain that some “Michael Jordan” person could “fly.”  America is a nation of hyperbole, and if you’re the best at something for an extended period of time, you become far bigger than you actually are.  Michael Jordan isn’t just famous for being the best basketball player ever anymore – he’s famous for being Michael Jordan – for being someone that EVERYBODY knows! Winning consistently does that in America, and since we export our culture across the globe, really does it the whole world over.  Michael Jordan is one of the wealthiest athletes or former athletes in the world, but much of that wealth is a direct result of his being embedded in our consciousness so deeply that simply “who he is” has great value to it, instead of just “who he is when he’s holding a basketball.”

This summer, if LeBron and some other top-tier free agents are able to somehow get on the same page and agree to sacrifice some personal salary for the sake of joining a dominant team, the sporting world would be turned on its head.  Stories would abound about the selflessness of the players, taking less money in order to compete for multiple championships, and if they were able to achieve that goal of multiple championships, LeBron would forever be known as the catalyst – the person so concerned with being loved that everybody actually DOES love him, including his peers at the top of the basketball world – and they love him so much they bought in to the revolutionary idea of building a juggernaut team solely for the sake of dominating the league for multiple years.  Yes, their personal salaries would have to be chopped in order for it to happen, but could you imagine the extra-curricular income each player involved could make?  Over the course of their lifetimes???  I don’t have any idea of actual numbers, but in the logical path my thoughts have followed to present this option, it seems as though the legacy would become infinitely valuable and provide for the individual players involved more than adequately. So, LeBron, think about it.  If someone reading the Transition 3 happens to know LeBron, send this to him.  I’m urging you, guy – think it through.  KG went years and years without any success due to loyalty, and everybody started thinking he was going to go crazy for a while there, until he actually won a championship finally.  Kobe’s got the long-term legacy in his sights right now, and really, has always had it there.  LeBron, you’re the most gifted and talented player in the world, and everybody agrees on that, but that means that everybody expects you to perform better than any other individuals active right now because you DO have those gifts and skills.  Make the most of who you are – you’re desperate to be loved, buddy.  And America loves winners – especially winners who do something differently than anybody’s ever done before.  Your buddies in the basketball elite already love you, and look to you for leadership on the USA Basketball Team and in the public eye.  Convince them – get them on board.  Sign somewhere that can afford you, and dominate the NBA for a decade.  You’ll live forever that way.

Thanks for reading, and look forward to more frequent updates in the future!  Go Suns!

-Jack

The Hawks won in Utah for the first time since 1993.  That’s ridiculous, and remarkable, both for how long it’s taken the Hawks to finally pull out a W in Mormonville, and the fact that the Hawks, who have struggled on the road this season, managed to beat the surging Jazz at home this year.  Granted, the Jazz didn’t have Deron Williams or Andrei Kirilenko (best nickname in the NBA, AK-47), but a win’s a win, right?  Especially when the last one like it came 17 years ago thanks to Dominique Wilkins.

Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings and the Milwaukee Bucks are quickly becoming one of my favorite teams to watch in the NBA (in the rare instance they’re on).  Bogut became the only Milwaukee Buck not named Lew Alcindor or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to record 20+ points, 20+ rebounds and 5+ blocks in a win over New York, and Brandon Jennings is consistently reminding me of a young Allen Iverson.  Of course, Bogut’s accomplishment is a little less impressive when you take in to consideration the Knicks’ depth chart at center – David Lee, Al Harrington, and Johnathan Bender.  That doesn’t stop me from liking him any less, though, for all he’s done in Milwaukee to change the culture of complacency surrounding the Bucks’ consistent level of mediocrity since Ray Allen left the team years ago.  Bogut’s launched “Squad 6″ (he wears #6) and held three rounds of auditions for 100 seats he himself purchased, and gave the season tickets away to the fans who cheered the loudest and showed the most spirit.  The fans who made the cut are expected to attend every game and basically stand and cheer from tip to final buzzer, or else risk losing their spot.  It’s already payed off in a big way for the Bucks, as the enthusiasm has spread throughout the arena and the waiting list for “Squad 6″ is hundreds of people long.  They’re also 9-3 at home since Bogut’s implemented this plan, as opposed to their 2-8 road record.  Mark Cuban, the crazy owner of the Dallas Maverics, twittered this after his team’s recent road trip to Milwaukee: “Those fans were the most fun fans I have seen on the road EVER. It made the atmosphere 100x better. More P.B.R. for them.”  Other NBA teams, take note!

I’ve also gotta take this opportunity to hate on the Charlotte Bobcats a little bit.  You’d assume that I’d be a Bobcats fan, since I was a Hornets fan, and I went to college in the greater Charlotte area…but, nope.  Not since the offensive color scheme, the stupid name (really, Bob Johnson?  The Bobcats?  And now you’re selling the team?  Thanks a lot, jerk.)  They’re currently in competition for the last playoff spot in the East, but aren’t on anybody’s list of dark-horse championship contenders.  Larry Brown is certainly doing more than was expected with this group, but last night, Stephen Jackson, aka “Captain Jack” went 1-for-16 from the field for seven points!  He fouled out with two minutes left.  I think it’s safe to say that if Coach Brown had left Captain Jack on the bench, the Bobcats wouldn’t have lost by 4 points.  They’d probably have won by 10 or more.  Way to go, buddy.  Also worth mentioning – the Bobcats became the first team since 1985 to lose to the team with the worst record (the Nets) and then beat the team with the best record (the Cavaliers) in their next game.  Kinda schizo.

Gotta hand it to Dallas for pulling off the trade with the Wizards.  While Caron Butler is the marquee name in the deal, Brendan Haywood has turned out to be the key piece for Dallas, especially since the bone in Erick Damiper’s middle finger broke through the skin the other day, expected to sideline him for a month.  Haywood is a big bodied center with a high level of defensive competency, something Dallas hasn’t had since………..well, I’d say Shawn Bradley, but that’s just not right.  Since ever.  Haywood gives them the wide body they have always lacked, and will free Dirk Nowitzki to defend quicker, smaller players, hopefully giving him an advantage in fitness towards the end of games that he hasn’t had to this point.  Haywood’s averaged 12 rebounds a game since coming to Dallas, and his presence changes the team’s entire identity.  Dallas should be a contender to be reckoned with in the Western Conference Playoffs this season.

And, finally, time to hate on Golden State a little bit.  The Warriors turned down a deal that had them sending Monta Ellis to Memphis for OJ Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet at the deadline.  I don’t know what they were thinking.  Stephen Curry (my boy from Davidson) is playing like a monster at PG, with a triple-double already in the books and displaying the same fearlessness with his long-distance shot that made him such a formidable college player, and frankly, he makes Monta expendable.  Ellis himself has even said that he didn’t see how he and Curry could co-exist in the same backcourt, since they’re the same size and have similar games.  I’d tend to agree – Monta Ellis is a little older, a little dumber version of Curry.  I can’t make any guarantees, but I’m pretty sure Curry won’t be endangering the welfare of his team by crashing a motor scooter any time soon…. and a backcourt of Curry and Mayo, with Andris Biedrins and Thabeet in the frontcourt, would really give Golden State a solid foundation to build on for the future.  I hope they know what they’re doing… but judging from their record so far with Ellis and Curry in the same backcourt, I’d say, “Doubt it.”  I hope their owner sells the team to someone who actually cares about winning, for the sake of their great fans as well as my boy Steph.

That’s all for now, folks!

With a labor dispute fast approaching, and the contracts of so many high-profile players set to expire after this season, the trade climate in 2010 had a sense of urgency to it, across the board, that we haven’t seen before.  The Cavs HAD to make a deal to maintain their position at #1, and hopefully convince LeBron to return to Cleveland in the offseason… the Rockets HAD to get rid of Tracy McGrady former star player who hasn’t even been asked to suit up for games lately even though he maintains he’s “all better,” but wanted to upgrade their overall talent in the process.  The Knicks HAD to pick up some expiring contracts to better position themselves to make a run at LeBron and the rest of the Free Agency 2010 class this summer.

Well, it seems pretty strange, but my own evaluation of the dealings that went down, it seemed like every team that actually did make a move is pretty satisfied with what went down.  Nobody made moves they didn’t strongly believe in, and (on paper at least) it seems that each team’s individual agendas were furthered by the trades.  The only real losers were the teams whose deals fell through.

The Cavs-Wizards trade: Nate’s already talked about this, but this is the most buzz-worthy move that went down.  The Cavaliers had been vocal all season about their desire to add a “Stretch-4,” that is, a power forward with the capability to hit the outside shot, a player archetype their management thinks would fit most fluidly with LeBron’s all-around game and Shaq’s dominating presence in the post.  Antawn (that’s always bothered me…. shouldn’t it be AntWAN?) Jamison is exactly that player, and is a definite upgrade for them over Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson.  In his college career, Jamison played the role of dominating post presence for UNC with gusto, grabbing board and swatting shots like he was the biggest and strongest player on the court.  Since he didn’t have elite “NBA size,” though, there were some questions about his game heading in to the NBA draft, causing him to be less-highly regarded than his Tar Heels teammate, Vince Carter.  Jamison was able to adjust to playing NBA small forward pretty effectively in the first few seasons of his career in Golden State, however, but a return to his more appropriate power forward position with Washington the past few seasons, while retaining the new perimeter elements of his game that he developed as a Warrior, has firmly entrenched him in the “good but not great” list of NBA players that every team would love to have.  Jamison doesn’t need the ball to be effective, but he knows what to do with it when he does get it.  Based on LeBron’s tendencies to take over a game individually or to get his teammates involved to the tune of double-digit assists depending on what the defense dictates, look for Jamison and LeBron’s new partnership to really thrive as the Cavs work towards the NBA title this season.  Expect a couple of BIG scoring outbursts from Jamison along the way, who at 33 is eager to prove he’s still got plenty left in the tank.  Don’t forget this is the same Jamison who dropped back-to-back 50-point games as a Golden State Warrior early in his career  — worth mentioning it because he was the first player to do it since MJ23 in the 1986-87 season.  He can definitely do it.  The biggest coup for the Cavaliers in this trade is that they didn’t give up much in the way of talent – Zydrunas Ilgauskas was an unfortunate loss as the big man has been creating great matchup problems for them off the bench in relief of Shaq this season, but all signs point to Big Z getting waived and being free to join the Cavs after the mandatory 30-day wait period, giving his feet some well-needed rest and shoring up the Cavs bench for a title run.  J.J. Hickson, the young power forward who’s shown a few flashes of promise this season, was an asset that Cleveland refused to consider giving up in any suggested trades, and they managed to get what they needed while hanging on to him. 

The Mavericks re-injected themselves in to the title contenders discussion by getting rid of unhappy / ineffective players in Drew Gooden (you never want your players known more for hair-do’s than skills) and Josh Howard (J-Ho is about the worst abbreviated nickname ever), and certainly upgraded their lineup at the 2 and 5 positions by adding Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood from the Wizards.  While Haywood’s never been and never will be a star player, he’s a wide body with a good defensive pedigree… and let’s be realistic – signing Subhodaya to play center would be an upgrade over Erick Dampier (unless of course Dampier’s playing for a new contract…. seriously, check the career stats.  ONE good season – his contract year).  You want your center to protect the basket as well as have some resiliency – Haywood will stay in the lineup, which is all the Mavs really require of their centers to qualify as a success.  Caron Butler is a great scorer and defender, and another player on that list of “good but not great” players that his former teammate Jamison is listed in as well (in my head).  He won’t have to be the #1 offensive option for the Mavs, which suits his skill set wonderfully.  That role will remain with Der Bomber, Dirk Nowitzki, and with Jason Kidd handling the ball, Caron is probably happier than a pig in you-know-what since he’s been stuck with Gilbert Arenas as his primary ball-handler the past few seasons.  Gilbert’s a great player, but we all know that creating looks for his teammates isn’t necessarily that high on Agent Zero’s priority list.  Everybody knows he’s a shooter first and a…. ok that was just bad and forced. Forgive me.  Anyway, having Caron Butler to play 2-guard frees up Jason Terry to back up Jason Kidd or Caron, and a bench backcourt of Terry and Roddy Beaubois should give every western conference playoff teams’ second units fits, a real plus come playoff time.

The Celtics seemed to make a lateral move, neither upgrading or downgrading their bench, by moving Eddie House and Bill Walker to the Knicks in order to acquire “Krypto-Nate” Robinson, the 5’9″ dynamic dunker capable of really filling it up on a streaky basis.  I like Nate, I really do, but I just don’t see how he’s an upgrade from Eddie House, aside from simply being a younger player.  They’re both streak-scorers who provide valuable offense off the bench, but if forced in to starting roles (as House was with the Heat previously in his career, and Nate has been with the Knicks), their teams are ineffective because of each player’s unavoidable limitations.  Eddie House doesn’t want to guard any powerful guards, and at 6’1″ I don’t necessarily blame him, while Nate simply can’t, at 5’9″.  He’ll provide some excitement for their fans with his dunks and energy, but I don’t really see how this move makes the C’s any more realistic title contenders than they already are. 

The Houston Rockets came out ahead after the deadline.  Behind the Jamison trade, I like the moves the Rockets made better than any other moves around the league.  Despite his undeniable talent, the Rockets had told Tracy McGrady and his bloated contract to not even worry about suiting up this season.  I like the confidence that shows in their less-heralded players and the message it sends to the league: we believe in our system, and even though Tracy’s a great player, he doesn’t fit in to what we’re doing right now, so we’re looking to move him.  The Rockets’ trademark this season has been relying on their ensemble cast as well as their system to maintain their competitiveness while lacking a true “star,” and they’ve managed to do that as well as anyone could expect.  In fact, I’ve said often this season that this year’s Rockets remind me of the 2002 Detroit Pistons, and picking up Kevin Martin from the Kings just reinforces the comparison in my mind.  Martin’s not a transcendent player, but he’s a very active player on offense and has a deadly (albeit broke) jumper coming off of screens.  I think pairing him in the backcourt with the deceptively quick Aaron Brooks (who unfortunately shares the same name as the New Orleans Saints’ QB embarassment prior to Drew Brees, immortalized in a Lil Wayne verse “I’m in the way, yall cant pass like Aaron Brooks) will make the Rockets dangerous playoff opponents for whoever they draw.  Tracy McGrady benefited from getting sent to NYC because he gets a two-month audition to show that he can still play for someone despite his microfracture surgery, and he gets to get paid like a star while working for that new contract anyway.  He’ll love New York and the lack of pressure on him to produce W’s at this point, and who knows, maybe we’ll see T-Mac take a cut-rate salary in order to contribute to a contender next season.  Doubt it, though.

Anyway, the only big losers I’d indicate at the trade deadline are the teams that really wanted to make something work, but somehow couldn’t compromise enough to pursue their objectives.  Amar’e staying in Phoenix comes to mind, as well as Miami’s lack of activity after strongly pursuing Carlos Boozer.  The Lakers had been making a ton of noise about potentially getting Chris Bosh as a rent-a-player for the remainder of this season, but I think that was as much a psychological gimmick of Phil Jackson to scare Bynum in to production more than anything.  Besides, everyone knows that Chris Bosh in Hollywood wouldn’t be a good match, not after his newfound fame after starring in Avatar this past year.

It seems like most of the teams aching to make a move got what they wanted.  Even the Trail Blazers, who’ve been decimated by injury like no other team this season, found frontcourt help in getting Marcus Camby for rent-a-player status while only giving up bit players.  Not a hugely-impactful move in my eyes – the Blazers are doomed to mediocrity until they swap Andre Miller for a PG with range on his jumpshot, and find a bench somewhere, but Camby is a great band-aid for a team lacking any frontcourt presence since Greg Oden’s P***s and Joel Pryzbilla, The Vanilla Gorilla went out with season-ending injuries.  I think the moves made by the Cavs and the Mavericks instantly raise their contender status, and the Rockets should enter the conversation as a serious dark horse… but we’ll see how it plays out!

BTW – I did catch the Nuggets-Cavs game last night.  Nobody should sleep on Denver – they’re 2-for-2 against the Cavs this season, and if the Cavaliers have shown us anything all year, it’s that beating them in the Q is difficult for any team.  LeBron was his traditional great self, but Carmelo is maybe only one rung on the ladder below him, if not right there with him, and the cohesiveness of Denver as a team really came through.  No idea how Cleveland let Kenyon Martin get 17 boards!

Until next time.

Kobe still holds on to the crown, but the advanced statistics are harder and harder to argue with every day.

PER, Roland Ratings, Efficiency, Value Added, and Win Shares all suggest that Lebron is superior to Kobe Bryant.

With Lebron making a strong case for best player in the league and Kobe on the sidelines because of injury, some commentators have taken the opportunity to once again question Kobe Bryant.

Just about every reputable publication from Foxsports to ESPN to SportsIllustrated toSportingNews has named Kobe as the NBA Player of the Decade. There’s a good reason why. Kobe Bryant has been a top three player for the entire decade. He’s been the consensus best player for half the decade. Nobody—not Shaq, not Duncan—can say the same.

That still didn’t stop Charles Barkley from essentially calling the fans stupid when they voted Kobe Bryant last week as player of the decade. Barkley and Kenny Smith thought that Shaq’s three years in LA earlier in the decade were enough to carry him for the other seven years.

It is not enough that Kobe’s made the All NBA team every year this decade. It isn’t enough that he’s made the defensive team nine out of 10 years, or that he’s been to the finals six times winning four rings. It isn’t enough that he’s scored more points this decade than any other player both in the regular season and the playoffs or that he’s been the leading assist man on four championship squads.

It still isn’t enough for a seven letter word: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Kobe heard Charles and Kenny. He’s heard the noise about Lebron being better. He’s heard the criticism that he still shoots too much. He’s heard the knock that he’s not efficient enough.

Four rings and counting and he’s still being second-guessed. He’s still being questioned.

But Kobe doesn’t mind. The hate and the criticism are fuel for Kobe. It pushes him to prove the haters and the doubters wrong.

In 2004-05 after having a coach quit in midseason and having substantial injuries for a significant part of the year, Kobe missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. The haters reveled in the Lakers’ misery. They said he couldn’t even lead the Lakers to the playoffs without Shaq.

Kobe came back the next season and drug Kwame Brown, Luke Walton, and Smush Parker as starters for most of the season to the playoffs. In doing it, he had an 81 point game that will go down as the greatest individual performance the league has ever seen.

Still, after having one of the greatest seasons of all time and taking the second place Phoenix Suns to seven games in the first round, the haters ignored the accomplishment. Instead, they accused Kobe of giving up on his team in a game seven.

In the MVP race, it was clear to anyone with a pulse that Bryant was not only the best player in the game, but that the Lakers would be in last place without him on the team. That’s the year when this ridiculous notion of “making your teammates better” became the criteria for MVP. Instead of Kobe hoisting a MVP trophy that should have been his, some writers left him off the MVP ballot completely.

Another year, more disrespect.

To be fair, Kobe sometimes rubs people the wrong way. After the 2006-07 season, he demanded a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. Unhappy that he wasn’t getting any closer to a championship, Kobe thirsted for a competent running mate. He’d settle for an older Jason Kidd. He’d settle for Luol Deng. Just give the guy somebody…anybody that could take just a little bit of the responsibility and he could deliver a championship.

There were those who were overjoyed. They thought Kobe had made his bed with forcing Shaq out of L.A., now it was time for him to lie in it. As good as Kobe was, they said the Lakers would never contend with him at the helm.

No trade was made, but by January of the 2007-08 season, the Lakers were in first place in the West.

That little detail gets lost because a couple of weeks later, the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol. But the Lakers were contenders before Gasol ever got into a Lakers uniform.

Again, doubting Kobe proved to be wrong.

That year, Kobe led his team to the NBA finals where they were overwhelmed by the league leading Boston Celtics.

The mantra that summer was initiated by Kobe’s arch nemesis, Shaquille O’Neal. “He couldn’t do it without me. Hey Kobe, tell me how my (expletive) tastes.”

Kobe didn’t respond. Fuel. Next year.

That summer, people questioned whether he could fit in with a team of all stars and check his ego enough to help Team USA win gold. Nevermind that Kobe wasn’t on the embarrassing team that brought home a bronze medal in 2004, the questions about winning focused on whether Kobe would “fit.”

Not only would Kobe fit, he would lead. He willed Team USA to the gold by being the go to player in the championship game against Spain. Hitting clutch shot after clutch shot, the best players in the world deferred to his greatness. The Redeem Team was able to redeem itself by simply adding the player it was missing four years earlier.

Still, could he do it without Shaq? Could he lead the Lakers team to the championship?

Nevermind that Shaq has never been on a championship team that didn’t also feature one of the top five players in the league at the time, Kobe was dared to win without Shaquille.

Hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy up at the end of the 2008-09 season, Kobe had answered every criticism. He had answered every question. The haters had to begrudgingly give him his props. They just had to respect him, didn’t they?

“He had Gasol.” “The Lakers were stacked.” “Fisher had to bail him out.”

Nevermind the fact that Gasol had never been considered as good until he played next to Kobe. Nevermind that Andrew Bynum was injured and ineffective. Nevermind that Kobe gave Fisher the game winning assist.

Another year, more disrespect.

Kobe hears the criticism.

Fuel.

Recently, as Kobe has been sitting out to nurse an ankle injury, the Lakers have been winning without him. Some have suggested that the Lakers are better without their star.

Fuel.

Turn on ESPN and you’ll hear Bill Simmons or John Hollinger claim that Lebron is better than Kobe, and it isn’t even close.

Fuel.

Kobe knows that as he ages, another young player will snatch the reigns of best player in the league. The ironic thing is that as he passes on the reigns to Lebron, he’ll be getting closer to his ultimate goal: being the best player of all time.

He’ll need rings to do it. Six of them.

But people doubt that Kobe can win like Jordan.

Fuel.

Now with Lebron playing out of his mind and with the Cavs recently adding Antawn Jamison, the stage has been set for an epic battle in this year’s finals. Cavs-Lakers. Kobe-Lebron.

The world will be watching. Lebron will stand in the way of Kobe’s fifth Championship. A tie with Magic is at stake. The legacy toward Jordan is in the balance. Questions will be asked.

How do you think Kobe will answer?

Bill Simmons released his annual trade value column this week. This is always my favorite Sports Guy column even though I don’t agree with everything he says. Look what he wrote under Dwight Howard. Now read what he wrote under the grouping of Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, and Derrick Rose. Now tell me why Durant, Wade, and Kobe are behind Howard.

If they remade ET and had a current NBA player act as ET who would you choose? I’m pretty sure 75% of you said Rajon Rondo. If you could choose a retired NBA player, Sam Cassel would be the hands down choice. This is more of a lock than James Cameron making a film in 2020 with a terrible plot but amazing special effects that grosses $5 billion worldwide. Here is a list of others who could play ET. You already know who number 1 is.

Wouldn’t it be great if the crowd started chanting “Conan, Conan” during the first episode of Leno’s return to The Tonight Show?

I wish I could hit a 99mph fastball. I really wish I could dunk a basketball. Most of all, I wish I could do this.

Speaking of Shaun White and the Olympics, I know winning the World Series, Superbowl, or NBA Championship would elicit an incredible feeling; but getting a gold medal placed around your neck, with your national anthem blaring in the background, in your home country would have to trump it all.

As Nate mentioned below, Jamison is going to the Cavs. Where is Amar’e going? To the Heat? A Wade, Stoudemire, Beasley top 3 would be nice, but I don’t think they could contend with the Cavs, Magic, or even the Celts or Hawks. Although, with the corpse of Jermaine O’Neal shaking off the cobwebs and performing like an actual NBA player recently, who knows.

The other 2 major trades involved the Mavs getting Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood while the T’ Blazers got Marcus Camby. I really like both trades for both team. With the Wizard being terrible and Gilbert Arenas trying to channel his inner Dirty Harry, a lot of people really don’t know much about Buter or Haywood. Both of them are tough players which the Mavs definitely need. While Strong Juice Butler will help Dirk with the scoring, I like the acquisition of Haywood more. He is a better defensive player than Erick Dampier and actually has a semblance of an inside post game. He will help against the Duncans, Gasols, etc. Both helped out last night in the victory over the Suns. This guy thinks Butler is going to make a huge difference.

As for the Blazers, I think getting Camby makes them the 3rd best team in the West, right behind the Nuggets – as long as Brandon Roy comes back completely healthy. With Greg “Sam Bowie v2.0″ Oden and Joel Pryzbilla out, the Blazers were in desperate need of a center who could defend and control the boards. That’s what the Camby man does best. He was defensive POY three years ago and I think he will be reinvigorated playing for a contender.

Why can’t the Lakers play this hard with Kobe on the floor?

I have a solution for the Dunk Contest. Let this guy participate.

Females are crazy. We already know how girls turn everything around when it comes to another girl they don’t like. For example, people in the Aniston camp love saying that Angelina Jolie’s lips are too big and she is just craving attention by adopting all those kids. Whatever. Those lips are amazing and she’s making those kids’ lives 100 times better. Well, women do it to athletes as well. Let me explain. My mom – sorry mom for calling you out – moved to the US in her 20′s and therefore didn’t have a loyalty to any NBA team. Therefore she gravitated towards the best player and best team which was Jordan and the Bulls. She followed Jordan’s career and thinks he is the greatest player of all time. Nothing wrong with that. A majority of people would agree with her. However, most people would also acknowledge the greatness of others, like Kobe and LeBron. Not my mom. I think MJ is the greatest ever and I don’t think Kobe will ever reach his level, but I think Kobe is going to come closer than anyone. LeBron hasn’t reached that level yet, but based solely on talent and God-given skills, LeBron is unmatched on the hardwood. If I mention this to my mom, she won’t listen. She’ll say something about how Kobe and LeBron really suck and that Michael is the greatest ever. That’s it. Kobe and LeBron suck. MJ is the best. No reason why. No acknowledgment of Kobe’s 4 rings or LeBron’s great all around game. That doesn’t matter to her, and in her opinion it shouldn’t matter to anyone else. She’s crazy….oh and she’s also obsessed. Whenever she sees MJ on the TV she reacts the same way a fan of Lost reacts when they see a preview for the next show. Some shrills, some shrieks, and then a smile. She would marry him right now if she could (watch out dad).

If a Duke player gets a black eye, does anybody feel bad for him?

Duke killed Maryland last Saturday when they played at Cameron. Maryland has since won 2 in a row, and if they continue playing this well and handle Duke at home, then Greivis Vasquez should be ACC player of the year. (I am a huge UMD fan. I lived in Maryland for 10 years and my favorite chant is “Fear the turtle”. If I was a bigger homer my last name would be Simpson).

Alright now for some links to articles I think you guys will enjoy.

Ball Don’t Lie midseason awards

A rundown of who might go number 2 in the NBA draft this year.

A look at the underachievers of the last 10 years.

A great read about why the Spurs aren’t as good as they used to be.

Who are the greatest fictional basketball players of all time? Well here you go.

Finally, my cousin Vijay asked me a great question last night. If you could have LeBron and Wade in their prime, or Jordan and Pippen in theirs, who would you chose? I said Jordan and Pippen because they already proved how great they are together. Pippen was the perfect second banana to MJ, the greatest player of all time. If Bron and Wade are on the same team, which one of them is gonna play Robin? What if it’s Game 7 of the NBA finals with one possession left with the score tied and Team Bron/Wade has the ball. Who is the coach going to call the play for? Does he flip a coin? Do they do rock, paper, scissors? I don’t know how that would work. I know Phil Jackson never had to worry about that while coaching the Bulls. I also know people think they would be perfect as teammates based on what they saw during the All-Star game and the 2008 Olympics. Well those are basically exhibition games. I don’t know if they would play so well together for a whole season plus playoffs. Although, there is a chance 6 years from now I read what I just wrote and bang my head on the wall.

Two things jump out at me: 1) The Cavs are REALLY good now; and 2) The Clippers are REALLY stupid.

The Clippers, for their part, are devoid of rational thought. Explain to me how one thinks it is a good idea to clear cap space to go after Lebron James by helping the Cavs win a championship? Well, that made sense to the Clippers and that’s all that needs to be said.

The Wizards are irrelevant, but one has to wonder whether they’ll buy out Big Z and let him return to the Cavs. If they buy Big Z out, they could avoid paying his salary and save some extra money. In that scenario, Z can return to the Cavs and provide a backup to Shaquille O’Neal in case of injury or even spread the floor at the PF position with his ability to knock down mid range shots.  Still, you’d have to wonder if an arch-nemesis like the Wizards is really going to want to do anything extra to help the Cavs’ title hopes.

On second thought,  they’d probably do it just to piss off Gilbert Arenas.

The biggest losers here are the New York Knicks. Their hopes of landing Lebron James depended on the Cavs not being title winners going forward. Now that the Cavs appear to be, on paper, one of the best teams (if not the best) in the NBA going forward, it’s hard to see why Lebron would choose the Knicks now. Though New York does have Broadway and Lebron loves to sing and dance…

Speaking of New York, Eddie House is having a rough day. He’s getting traded from the Boston Celtics to the New York Knicks. Contender to laughing stock in one day and I thought my Wednesday was bad. House’s son, Jaelen, is not happy either. Rumors are that their TV show has been renamed from “My dad’s a Pro” to “My dad’s a Knick.” The kids at school are no longer impressed. Tough break, Jaelen, there’s always FUBU.

Despite the terrible day in New York, the people in Cleveland were ecstatic when news first broke of the Jamison trade. Then they remembered that they live in Cleveland and misery returned. Still, the Cavs have reason to celebrate. They get an absolute stud in Antawn Jamison.  He’s going to be a perfect compliment to Lebron on the offensive end because he plays pick and roll basketball and can spread the floor. He forces opposing power forwards out of their comfort zones. If a defender doesn’t come to cover him, he’ll shoot the J. If the defender comes out, he’ll use his skill to get to the basket and finish or set a teammate up.

The defensive end is another matter entirely. I’ll just say, Amare’s a better defender and leave you to fill in the blanks.

Still, Jamison makes the Cavs a lock for the NBA finals.

Then again, the Cavs were a lock for the NBA finals last year too.  (As an aside,  I think  Subhodaya and I were the only people in America who predicted that Orlando would have no problem dispatching of the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Well, Charles Barkley also predicted it, but he also thinks Shaq is player of the decade with only having 3 great seasons in the last 10 years so he doesn’t count.)

Although Lebron looked nervous, biting his nails, when told of the Jamison trade, sources say that he is very pleased with the acquisition.

But Lebron should be nervous. He needs to worry because there are no more excuses. He finally has a squad that, on paper, rivals the Lakers. Everyone is going to be expecting a Lakers-Cavs finals this season. They want to see an epic battle with the two best players in the game today – and possibly, with history as the judge, the two best players of all time – going head to head to determine who is 1A and who is 1B.  Lebron’s ascent to King has been in name only. The throne is still Kobe’s. Lebron knows that in order to get his crown he must take it from Kobe.

My prediction: Lakers in six because Kobe’s a champion. He’s got killer instinct and he’s playing for his place in history. Kobe won’t let his Lakers lose in the finals. Not this year. Not to Lebron.

I guess it isn’t such a bad day for New York after all.

The Slam Dunk Contest, if you can even call it that, was terrible. It was, by far, the worst ever. We’ve gotten to the point that just because some guy is our size, and can dunk, we deem him a great dunker. That’s stupid. Nate Robinson is athletic and has amazing hops. He’s not a great dunker though. Look, we all know that the dunk contest isn’t what it used to be. As Rick Pitino would say Dr. J, Dominique, MJ, Vince Carter, they aren’t walking through that door. The best players in the NBA are not going to compete in the dunk contest. We won’t ever see LeBron, Wade, Melo, etc. That doesn’t mean the dunk contest has to lay a big one. There are tons of athletically gifted players in the NBA who do not get much playing time or aren’t well known to the average fan. If they compete in the dunk contest, they should take that opportunity to get their name out there. Shannon Brown, Gerald Wallace, and DeMar DeRozan all had that chance, but they failed. You would think they would take advantage of being in the national spotlight. Instead, it seemed like they really didn’t care. I was very disappointed. Hopefully Dwight Howard will come back next year and add some excitement to the slam dunk contest again.

The All-Star game played out like it normally does. For the first three and half quarters, we get to see the most star-studded pick up game. Then for the last 6 minutes it becomes a real competition and the players actually care who wins or loses. While it’s hard to judge players based on one exhibition game, there were a few who stood out to me.

• Deron Williams: I stated in an earlier post that Chris Paul was much better than Williams; that the debate between them shouldn’t even be a debate. Well, I was wrong. Paul is still better than Williams, but the difference between them is minimal. Williams is a great jump shooter, and while he isn’t the quickest PG, he is very strong and can get any spot on the floor when he wants to. He’s also taken charge of the Jazz and become the leader of the team. The Jazz are 9-1 in their last 10 games and are only 2 games behind the Nuggets for 2nd place in the division. They’ve always had enough talent and coaching to be contenders in the West. Now they have a leader to match.
• Chris Bosh: Toronto doesn’t get much national attention, so Bosh doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, which is a shame. He has led the Raptors to a 29-23 record and he consistently puts up a 23 and 11 every game. Take into account that Jose Calderon has been plagued by injuries this year and Andrea Bargnani hasn’t progressed as the Raptors had hoped, and it becomes very obvious that Bosh is one of the top 10 talents in the league. It will very interesting to see where he goes after this year, along with LeBron and Wade.
• Speaking of LeBron and Wade, they put on quite a show playing on the same team yesterday. Heat fans can only hope that LeBron joins Wade next year in Miami, forming the greatest duo since Shaq and Kobe. ESPN’s John Hollinger has more information about it here.

With the all-star game behind us we can get on with the final third of the season. There are many questions still to be answered. Is Stoudemire going to the Cavs? Who else is going to make a big trade? Can the Celtics and Spurs get healthy and make a strong run into the playoffs? Can any team or teams keep a Lakers-Cavs final from happening? I’m a fan of the unpredictable, but I hope the answer to the last questions is no. I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see and enjoy the rest of the season.

With Kobe Bryant being unable to compete at the level necessary to merit the award because of injuries, Lebron James had a clear path to grab the award for the second consecutive year after the Cavaliers demolished the Lakers for the second time in as many tries last month. Then Cavs point guard, Mo Williams, went down with an injury along with Cavs guard, Delonte West, who has not been playing. How does Lebron respond? By become the best playmaker in the league by averaging over 10 assists since Mo Williams went down. Even more amazing, Lebron has taken over the NBA scoring lead in that same span. Lebron’s PER this season is 31.64 and if he keeps it at that pace, it’ll be a top 5 PER of all time. The only other players in the top 5 in PER? Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. That’s how good Lebron James is this season. That the Cavs are the best team in the league record wise and that James is routinely considered, along with Kobe Bryant, to be the best player in the league only helps his case.  Add all this to the fact that the Lakers have been playing superb without Kobe and it seems difficult to see anyone challenging Lebron James for MVP honors.

Enter Kevin Durant.

I’m going to put it out there. If the Oklahoma City Thunder win 50 games, my vote would go to Kevin Durant. The Oklahoma City Thunder are on pace for 48 wins right now, but John Hollinger’s nifty ESPN playoff predictor has the Thunder winning 50 games by season end. Perhaps that didn’t register. The Oklahoma City Thunder might win 50 games this season!

If it still hasn’t registered, let me kindly put it in perspective. The Oklahoma City Thunder were supposed to be an embarrassment. Mediocre at best. Teams were supposed to look at the Thunder as a gimme win. If a team was in need of a pick-me-up, they would look to the Thunder as a sure victory. And  who could blame them? Last year, the Thunder only won 23 games all season. They’ve already surpassed last season’s win total by 7 wins. If the Thunder make it to 50 wins, then they would have improved by 27 wins. That’s double the number of wins they had all season – and they’d make the playoffs in the tough Western Conference.  No longer are teams going to Oklahoma with a smile on their face. They know what I know. Kevin Durant is a bad, bad man.

It may take a while for the world to notice, but Kevin Durant is a top 5 player in the NBA. He is the reason why the Thunder are playing so well. Give credit to Scott Brooks for infusing this team with a defensive identity and Jeff Green for being a consistent stud, but it is Durant who is the floor general. Durant’s individual play is every bit worthy of MVP honors. He is second in the league in scoring pouring in 29.7 points per game (Lebron is #1 at 29.8) while pulling down 7.4 rebounds per contest. His shooting percentage is 48.5% which is exceptional given the amount of jumpers that he takes. He’s top 5 in PER and he’s been worthy of second team defensive honors this season.

Compared to Lebron, Durant isn’t nearly as dominant statistically. He doesn’t need to be. After winning 66 games last season, Hollinger’s predictive model puts the Cavs finishing at 62 wins – 4 games worse. This is after adding considerable talent to the Cavs roster including Shaquille O’Neal and Anthony Parker. Lebron, for all his stellar player, hasn’t been as good individually as last season either with his PER down a notch this year. As good as Lebron has been and as good as the Cavs are, they are merely meeting expectations. Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are exceeding expectations.

But here’s what convinced me to put Kevin Durant over Lebron James if the Thunder win 50 games. Lebron plays in the Eastern Conference which is clearly inferior to the tough Western Conference. The Celtics haven’t been nearly as good as expected and Orlando has been considerably worse than last year after losing Hedo Turkolu to the Toronto Raptors. Consider this, the Thunder are 16-6 against the Eastern Conference. That’s almost a 73% win rate. If you put the Thunder in the East, where Lebron James plays, they’d win 55 games. And admit it, if the Thunder won 55 games, you’d have to give the award to Kevin Durant, wouldn’t you? I can’t in good conscience punish Durant for playing in a tougher conference.

Perhaps all this talk about individual play and wins is missing the point, though. Kevin Durant has also given Oklahoma City something to cheer about. A franchise that couldn’t give tickets away a few years ago is selling out 90% of their home games. The team is going to make the playoffs for the first time since they moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City and they are built for the future. Just as Lebron put Cleveland on the map; Durant is doing the same for Oklahoma City. He’s doing it in a tougher conference and massively exceeding expectations.

Next time I see Kevin, my only two words to him will be: MVP, MVP!

My cousins and I always discuss athletes playing other sports than what they went pro in; so, with the NFL season ending and the NBA approaching the all-star break, I thought it would be appropriate to answer this question: If the NBA had to put together a professional football team to play in the NFL, who would be on the team? The biggest problem this question poses is there are so many players to choose from. Out of the 3 major sports (sorry Canada, hockey doesn’t count) basketball players, as a whole, are the most athletic and well-rounded athletes, unless they are 7′ 7″, from Romania, and starred in the movie My Giant. To narrow down the field, I have decided to only pick players who were productive during the last decade and the reason for that is this is my list so I make the rules. Also, when you imagine each player on the football field, imagine them during their prime. Without further ado, here is the greatest football team never to play football.

Offense

QB: Allen Iverson. With NFL defenses getting faster and faster, you need a QB who can avoid pressure and also present the threat of the run on every play. Who better than AI? During his prime Iverson was one of the quickest and most tenacious players. He drove to the hole without hesitation and was not afraid to get hit. You need that type of toughness in the leader of your offense. After a sack or a knockdown, it always helps keep morale up when the quarterback bounces back quickly and moves on to the next play. No one got up more after being sent sprawling to the hardwood than Iverson. Also, Iverson was the center of the Philadelphia 76ers offense and everything ran through him, causing people to label him as a ball hog. Well, by making him my QB I’m making sure the ball is in his hands on every play. Some people might argue that he is too small. To channel my inner Joy Behar so what, who cares? People said Drew Brees was too small and he just won some big game or something. If you still don’t like my choice of Iverson, watch this.

RB: LeBron James. With all due respect to every other RB who has ever played in the NFL, LeBron would be the most feared one. Who wants to try to tackle a 250 pounder running full speed? I have an answer. NO ONE. With his speed and strength he could score 6 anytime he touched the ball, no matter where he was on the field. LeBron also has great vision and would be able to see holes before they opened up and would also know when to break a run outside or just barrel up the middle for 4 yards. He would make Adrian Peterson look like Betty White.

WR1: Kobe Bryant. At 6’6″ he would tower over any defensive back who played against him. If he is covered one on one, just throw it up and there’s a 90% chance Kobe is coming down with it. Hell, even if he’s covered by three guys throw it up to him. He’ll come down with it 80% of the time or draw a penalty. Another reason Kobe would make a great receiver is his footwork. What sets 24 apart from his peers in basketball is his impeccable footwork. He is by far the best at the pump fake, spin on your pivot, and score…without traveling. To be a great WR you need great footwork. You need to be able to make tight cuts and not lose speed while making them. Kobe would be a master at doing this. Also, with his amazing stamina and competitiveness, Kobe would not take plays off a la Randy Moss.

WR2: Leandro Barbosa. He’s fast. With Kobe dominating on the other side, I need someone to stretch the field. I was looking at Tony Parker, but he’s French…not that there’s anything wrong with that. You guys make excellent toast. Anyways, all Barbosa needs to do is run down field and occupy one of the safeties, and block every once in a while. He’ll have no problem doing that.

TE: Joakim Noah. Yeah he’s annoying, but if he’s on your team that’s okay. He’s a hustle guy and does a lot of the little things that help your team win. With Kobe and LeBron getting most of the touches, I don’t need my TE to be a pass catching TE. I need him to block, make a big play here and there, and pump the team up. I will get that from Yannick’s son. Also, like I said he is really annoying, so there’s a good chance that at least once a game he pisses off the opponents so much that they do something stupid and get an unsportsmanlike penalty.

FB: Anderson Varejao. I want my fullback to not care about anything except blocking for the RB. Believe me when I say the fullback is not going to get any touches. When you watch Varejao play, you can tell that he enjoys getting rebounds, playing defense, and most importantly setting screens for LeBron. Well on my football team he can enjoy blocking for LeBron. He can also use his hair to clear space.

Guard, Center, and Tackle: Shaquille O’ Neal. Trust me, Shaq will be enough. If not we can throw in Robert “Tractor” Traylor to help him out. And yes, that is really him.

Defense

CB1: Bruce Bowen. Would be great at bump n run coverage. The key to bump n run is to use your hands to knock the receiver off his route. Bruce was great at using his hands to defend players during his run with the Spurs, even though most of the time it was illegal. Now he can do it legally. Also, he had very quick feet and anticipated well, so he could definitely cover a receiver one on one. Most importantly, Bowen was regularly touted as the league’s dirtiest player, so he would trip, claw, and bite the opponent’s number one receiver into submission.

CB2: Josh Smith. Might not be quick enough to cover a receiver one on one but my safeties can help with that. With his height, length, and leaping ability, he would be hellacious in zone coverage. He could basically cover two zones by himself. Might gamble a little bit too much to get a pick (similar to him shooting so many 3′s even though he has a horrible percentage) but I can live with that.

FS and SS: Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul. Neither of them is very big but I do not need them to make big hits. Both of them are among the league leader in steals, which makes them perfect as my safeties. They have great instincts, would get good jumps on the ball, and would definitely be able to read the eyes of the opposing QB. Both of them are very smart players and would most likely always be in position to make a tackle or make a play on the ball. If they are ever out of position, they have enough speed to make up for it.

MLB: Ron Artest. Very strong and versatile. In the NBA, Artest is one of the few players who can guard anyone from a point guard to a power forward. On the football field, I could put him on a tight end, the third receiver, or have him blitz and cause havoc in the pocket. Also remember, this is Ron Ron in his prime aka Crazy Ron Artest so opponents would definitely be afraid of him because there would be a good chance he would punch them in the face. I would have Stephen Jackson chilling on my bench just in case Ron needed help.

Defensive End and Tackle: Shaquille O’ Neal and Robert ‘Tractor’ Traylor. Trust me, they will be enough.

Secret Weapon: Dwight Howard. Anytime the opponent is lining up to kick a field goal I’m bringing in Howard. With his height and leaping ability he is going to block every kick or at least make the kicker push the ball wide right or left. No field goals against my team I guarantee it.

Personnel:

GM: Me. I put the team together. I’m the GM.

Coach: Jim Caldwell. Just seeing if you are still paying attention. I would only have Caldwell as my coach if this was a team full of mimes. The coach would be…me. As the GM, I would play the loyalty card and hire myself as coach. Hey, that’s just the way it goes.

Offensive and Defensive Coordinator: Me…again. What did you expect?

With the athletes on this team, and with the great coaching I would provide, we could just fill up the other positions with random scrubs and the team would still go 16-0 in the regular season and destroy everyone in the playoffs. First team to go 19-0. Take it to the bank.