Tag: basketball

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NBA Playoffs Preview – Lakers Edition

I’m a Lakers fan from way back.  I got my start watching Lakers games with my dad in the 80’s.  Magic Johnson was my favorite player.  I’ve been there through the good times (Kobe/Shaq 3 peat) and the bad (Kwame Brown and Smush Parker).  Last year was a disappointment as the Lakers got swept in the second round against Dallas.  Things this year looked promising despite a new coach (Mike Brown – Why?) and some curious signings/trades (Lamar Odom-bad, Ramon Sessions-good).

And then Metta World Peace unleashed an elbow.  The player formerly known as Ron Artest has a reputation.  If you are an NBA sports fan, you know the history.  I wasn’t happy when the Lakers signed him.  We had just won a championship with Trevor Ariza and I didn’t see a reason to change that.  But Ron Artest came in and kept the crazy at bay.  He hit some big shots and we won another championship.  All was right in the world.

Fast forward to today.  Metta will be suspended for seven games.  This leads into the playoffs where the Lakers will face either Denver or Dallas.  A challenging post season just turned into mission impossible with LA’s weak bench.  Kobe, Bynum and Gasol will have to play to their highest levels just to get out of the first round.  Now it’s hard for me to see how my team can make it to the Finals.

I am a Lakers fan.  Ride or die with the purple and gold!  This post season should be entertaining.  And if my Lakers don’t make it I will still watch.  There are a lot of good teams in the NBA.  Whoever wins will deserve the trophy.  Just please don’t let it be the Miami Heat.

Any Finals predictions?  What’s your favorite team?

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Chris Paul To The Clippers? Thank Goodness Someone’s Looking Out For Donald Sterling – SBNation.com

As if anything the NBA does nowadays makes any sense, here is further evidence…………..

Chris Paul To The Clippers? Thank Goodness Someone’s Looking Out For Donald Sterling – SBNation.com.

UPDATE:  The deal is off!  Who is running this league?  I think it’s time for David Stern to step down.

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NBA Lockout – One Fan’s Perspective

Somebody blow the whistle.  There has been a foul called on the season.  As a fan of the NBA, I call a flagrant foul on the part of millionaires and billionaires.  Why?  For arguing over percentage points of BRI (basketball related income) and forgetting that the fans provide a lot of that income.

If you have followed the lockout saga as closely as I have then  you know that the owners issued their “final offer”.  You also know that the players rejected said offer.  Now it looks like they are headed toward decertification of the union and a long drawn out fight in a courtroom.

I am a reasonable person.  I have looked at this from both sides.  The owners want shorter contracts, smaller salaries, and some assurances that their Superstar/All-Star player can’t decide he wants out and pairs up with another superstar (looking at  you, Lebron and Carmelo).  Small market teams want to be able to compete with the Los Angeles and New York.  The players want the same number of years for guaranteed contracts and more freedom (free agency) to change teams.  They feel like they have already given back to ownership with a reduction in BRI from 57% to 53%.

I know I have generalized the many moving parts of the NBA labor impasse.  I know its more than BRI, free agent movement and small market team viability.  But as a fan, this is what I know for sure.  None of it matters to me.  I just want to see basketball games.

I want to see if the Dallas Mavericks can repeat as Champions.  I want to root against the Miami Heat.  I want to see the up and coming teams of Memphis, Chicago and Oklahoma City.  I want to see if my beloved Lakers have another run left in them.  I want to see it all.

So, if it’s true t hat basketball doesn’t stop, who do I blame for taking the ball and going home?  I wish the owners and players would work this thing out and save the season.  I love basketball.  But like a jilted lover, if  the NBA breaks my  heart, they may never regain my love.