A lot of the Brooklyn Nets’ blood, sweat, and tears have gone into the making of this team and tonight we get our first look at the new look Celtics. For the first time since the days of Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen the Celtics have 3 legitimate elite NBA players on their roster. No longer are they the plucky underdogs. Not to say they’ll be able to top the Cavs or the Warriors, but this team is much closer than last year’s team was. And while Isaiah Thomas will always be one of my favorite C’s players ever, Kyrie Irving is objectively speaking just a better all around player. Kyrie’s been one of the most entertaining players to watch since his (limited) days at Duke so I’m excited to see him lace up his sexy shamrock sneakers for the first time.
Kyrie Irving laces up the “Shamrock” Nike Kyrie 3 PE during @celtics shootaround
I love it. Its that positional flexibility that the NBA thrives on these days as each player in this lineup can score from various levels. Its also the same starting 5 I use in NBA2K, no biggie. I’m excited to see Tatum go up against the big boys too after looking silky smooth in the summer league.
And most of all, its great to have a team that can legitimately compete with LeBron once again. Its been a long road back from The Big 3 days, but this team should push the Cavs for a spot in the NBA Finals. Especially with LeBron still dismissively referring to Kyrie as “the kid” every opportunity he gets, Kyrie may legitimately murder LeBron before we even get to the playoffs.
Sports Illustrated – We live in a great era for play-by-play voices. The list of quality game-callers is deep and sports broadcasting has become far more inclusive than ever as evidenced by women (Tiffany Greene, Beth Mowins, Kate Scott, etc…) regularly getting play-by-play assignments that have traditionally been the domain of men only.
Given the quality of talent among play-by-play voices, I thought it would be a fun parlor game to list the 25 best working play-by-play broadcasters in the business. This list is entirely subjective. It is entirely based on my likes when it comes to professionalism, preparation and quality of broadcast. I expect to be told on social media that the list sucks.
While Deitsch admits that his list is subjective and that he expects to get pushback on social media, he won’t get much pushback from me. His list is more than fair and includes a wide range of broadcasters from a wide range of sports. Still, I’ll add my two cents.
23. Phil Liggett, NBC Sports
The soundtrack for the Tour de France in the United States…
22. Mary Carillo, The Tennis Channel and NBC Sports
A play-by-play caller who is unafraid to deliver truths while calling a match…
A cycling announcer and a tennis announcer right out of the gate had me concerned about the direction of this list. Where’s the Boston Marathon announcer going to be ranked?
18. Sean McDonough, ESPN
McDonough continues to be criminally underrated. While he currently handles Monday Night Football and college basketball broadcast duties for the worldwide leader, he was also a terrific college football and Major League Baseball broadcaster. Arguably the best Boston play-by-play announcer of all time.
17. Brad Nessler, CBS
Love listening to Brad Nessler. I feel like my dad watching an Oilers/Bengals game in 1990.
14. Chris Fowler, ESPN
The best tennis match caller working today. There are better on college football but he’s improved each year at that gig, too.
I’ll give Deitsch credit, he is showing more respect to non-Big 4 sports than I would on my list. But I still miss listening to Brent Musburger on big-time college football games. Fowler is ranked too high for my tastes.
13. Gus Johnson, Fox Sports
Would probably be higher on this list if he stilled called NCAA Tournament games. It’s a shame we don’t get to hear him on CBS (or TBS) in March any more.
10. Joe Buck, Fox Sports
Perennially underrated as a baseball voice and he’s self-deprecating on the mic, which is welcome.
I agree with this statement 100%. Not the best in the business, but not deserving of much of the criticism he receives.
9. Kevin Harlan, CBS, Turner Sports, and Westwood One
I respect a broadcaster who will do play-by-play of a drunk fan on the field during the fourth quarter of a lousy Monday night game.
4. Ian Eagle, CBS Sports, Westwood One, Tennis Channel, YES Network
The highest ranked Sunday afternoon NFL broadcaster on the list and I don’t disagree. Though his partner, Dan Fouts, might need to be the next analyst to get pushed out the door when Peyton Manning decides to get back in the game.
2. Al Michaels, NBC Sports
Still the gold standard for the NFL—and still going strong at age 72. He’ll call his 10th Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2018.
From the Olympics to the World Series to the Super Bowl and everything in between, Michaels is perhaps the best of all time.
1. Mike Emrick, NBC Sports
I did not expect to see a hockey broadcaster at the top of this list but it is well deserved for the Doc. No other sport and broadcaster go together better than Emrick and hockey. Hell, Emrick does minor league and college games when the NHL goes into lockouts. That’s dedication. I can’t imagine Mike Tirico announcing a Northeastern basketball game the next time the NBA has a lockout.
SLAM – Jeremy Lin knew that his new dreads would ruffle a few feathers, and the hair did indeed draw Kenyon Martin‘s ire. The former Nets big man accused Lin of wanting to be black.
So as we all know Jeremy Lin has hit a bit of a quarter-life crisis post-Linsanity days and has taken to filling that void in his life by sporting wacky new haircuts like every 3 weeks.
The Faux Hawk
The Dragonball Z
The Undercut Man Bun
The Cornrows
The Boys Regular
His latest cut though are some fresh new dreads.
Now I’m all for doing some stupid shit with your hair if you can 1.) grow it and 2.) not get fired for looking like an asshole. If you can fulfill both of those quotas, do your thing homie.
Lin actually wrote an extremely thoughtful article on The Players Tribune about how he wanted to be considerate about the perception of him sporting dreadlocks. He really did not want to look like he was appropriating black culture.
Welp, ever insightful Kenyon Martin, the dude who once got a pair of lips tatted on his neck, was NOT having it.
“Do I need to remind this damn boy that his last name is Lin. Like, come on man. Let’s stop this man, with these people,” Martin said in an Instagram video. “Like, there’s no way possible he would’ve made it on one of our teams with that bulls–t going on on his head.
“Come on, man. Somebody really need to tell him, like, ‘Alright bro, we get it. You want to be black.’ Like, we get it. But the last name is Lin, alright?”
Jeremy Lin clapped back though with the most polite Fuck You we’ve seen in some time. Basically told Kenyon, “Bro you have Chinese tattoos, but big fan of you’re work, Mr. Martin.”
Joel Embiid is the absolute living, breathing reincarnation of George Costanza. Unprecedented levels of mailing it in and the king of snaking it til you make it.
Absolute mailman of the century. Guy’s played 31 games in 3 years and just got a $150M extension. Thats a Costanza level of mailing it in. https://t.co/9J5Z0yW8E5
Seriously, you almost have to respect it. 31 games played out of a total of 246 games he’s been in the NBA for. I would kill to show up for 12 PERCENT of my job and still get paid an exorbitant amount.
ESPN – The NBA’s board of governors voted to pass legislation on draft lottery reform and guidelines for the resting of healthy players in the regular season, league sources told ESPN…The lottery reform changes will be instituted for the 2019 NBA draft..The NBA needed a three-fourths majority to pass draft lottery reform, which is designed to discourage teams from tanking to pursue the best possible odds to select highest in the draft order.
This is great news for Celtics fans in the sense that we won’t be getting fisted out of the last of our coveted (hopefully) lottery picks. Not so much for small market teams that rely on tanking. Christ, Sam Hinkie wrote the book on tanking. Dude got canned by the Sixers, but they wouldn’t be where they are today without him. Trust the Process indeed.
Thankfully the Celtics have already pocketed all those Nets picks:
2018: No. ? – Traded to CLE as part of Kyrie Irving deal
2017: No. 3 – Jayson Tatum (Right to swap with Nets and BOS traded down from No. 1)
2016: No. 3 – Jaylen Brown
2014: No. 17 – James Young
Now the C’s will bank on the 2018 Lakers pick being a Top-2 pick next summer. Looking back, the Celtics “only” got two top-five picks from the Brooklyn trade. Imagine if they’d gotten none because of changes to the Draft Lottery?
Starting in 2019, when the Celtics no longer have top, unprotected, golden lottery picks, the rules change. Perfect. If this shit happened four years ago those Nets picks are DRASTICALLY less valuable and maybe Billy King still has a job.
Long story short, having the worst record in the league is no longer a one way ticket to a top pick. Things are a lot murkier now.
“The three teams with the worst records will share a 14 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick, a change from the descending percentages of 25, 19.9, and 15.6 in the current system.”
So while it was always a nail biter for the team with the worst record because you still only had a 1/4 chance of getting the No. 1 pick; now thats down to a 14 percent chance for 3 teams. In theory that should deter a team from saying fuck it and just tanking down the stretch if the bottom three teams all have the same chance of getting the No. 1 pick. Teams will still tank to get down to the bottom 3, but I guess its a step in the right direction if the NBA truly wants to eradicate tanking (good luck).
“Four teams — increased from three — will become part of the lottery draw, which means the No. 1 lottery seed could drop no further than fifth, No. 2 could drop no further than sixth, No. 3 no further than seventh, and No. 4 no further than eighth.”
Imagine having the worst record and somehow dropping to the No. 5 overall pick? If I’m a fan of that team I’m drinking a bottle of whiskey on Draft Lottery night.
Gotta love the NBA though, they’re always pivoting, always changing shit. Remember back in 2006 when they tried to introduce a new basketball and reversed course like 2 weeks later?
Well virtually every player in the NBA bitched about the new ball. Why change the only piece of equipment that actually matters? Who the hell knows. But hey they tried it. It bombed. And rather than just forcing it down everyones throats because it was the league’s decision they said yup you’re right, fixed it, and moved on. Thats what keeps leagues relevant, adapting to the times, trying new things, and if it doesn’t working cutting your losses and moving along. Not burying your head in the sand (NFL vs CTE) or staunchly opposing evolution (MLB vs everything).
So good luck to all the Lottery teams in 2019, I’m just glad the Celtics will have no part of it because I can’t handle that kind of stress in my life.
Rick Pitino just got shitcanned by Louisville and it seems like this might be the end of the line for the controversial coach. Just one scandal after the next. There was the scandal with him banging the chick in the restaurant, the stripper parties that he threw an assistant coach under the bus for, and now this pay to play scandal. Guy is cooked. I think the term “lack of institutional oversight” gets thrown around a lot these days, but Pitino has that shit in spades.
Ouch. College coaches always know when they’re in too deep and shits about to implode so thats when they start looking around. You think Pete Carroll just conveniently decided to take the Seattle Seahawks job right before the NCAA came down on USC for all the Reggie Bush sanctions? No way.
So now Pitino is out at Louisville after another massive scandal, there’s no interest from the NBA, and I’m sure he’ll have some kind of imposed multi-year suspension from coaching by the NCAA when this is all said and done. Theres no way another major school takes a shot on him potentially sinking their program too. Maybe we wind up seeing Pitino coaching Southern Connecticut or something down the line on the Isiah Thomas type comeback trail. I’d be remiss to not end this blog with the most Pitino-y Pitino moment of all time.
ESPN – Twelve-time NBA All-Star guard Dwyane Wade is nearing a commitment to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers and could finalize his decision as soon as Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.Wade, who agreed to a contract buyout with Chicago, will clear waivers on Wednesday and become an unrestricted free agent. Wade has been intrigued by the idea of rejoining LeBron James on the Cavaliers. Wade and James are longtime friends and won two championships and made four trips to the NBA Finals as teammates on with the Miami Heat.
THE BANANA BOAT IS GETTING BACK TOGETHER!
When LeBron was at the peak of his powers no one, save for Tim Duncan, could stop him. That Miami Heat team is one of the most dominant teams we’ve seen in a long time, which people are quick to forget because of how dominant the Warriors have become since LeBron left Miami. Its like every move villain ever. One falls and another pops up to take its place. So Bron Bron is calling in the reinforcements. He’s getting the Banana Boat back together. When times were simpler and LeBron was bullying teams en route to back to back championships. Back then Super Teams were fun because he was on the best one. Unfortunately Chris Paul is already in Houston, but maybe with 2/3 Banana Boat power levels LeBron and D-Wade can do some damage.
PS – How awesome must it be to be so fucking rich that you negotiate a buyout of your GUARANTEED $23 million salary to go play with your buddies for 10% of that and not even bat an eye. Goddamn.
“Wade, 35, is eligible to sign a one-year, $2.3 million veterans minimum contract with the Cavaliers…Wade gave back $8 million of his $23.8 million 2017-18 salary to reach a buyout agreement, league sources said.”
Knicks fans everywhere just pounded their desks with their fists when they saw this photo because as we all know, Hoodie Melo is as close as Melo will ever get to Olympic Melo, who is one of the best players in the world. And I mean if James Jones can rock a hoodie under his jersey and dominate the NFL then who’s to say Carmelo Anthony can’t do the same thing in the NBA?
I for one am ecstatic that the Celtics-LeBron rivalry is getting some much needed juice. I’ll always love going up against LeBron, but it really hasn’t been the same since the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. Ya know when he ripped our guts out in Game 6 with an otherworldly performance? Yea that was the final stand of the Big 3 and the launching of the LeBron we know now.
Its been a long road back but the Celtics are finally competing with LeBron for a trip to the Finals once again. He’s just been the one coming out of the East for the last 7 years in a row… So its been a little one sided. And while playing LeBron is always contentious, I feel like we haven’t really had that venom since Pierce, KG, and Rondo left the team. Rondo was the last guy who visibly hated LeBron James. So these games just haven’t had that extra juice.
Until now.
Kyrie Irving seemed to have had enough of LeBron son-ing him and by LeBron’s comments at Media Day today I can see why.
“I tried to do whatever I could to help the kid out and be the best player he could be…Other than that, I wish the kid great health and the kid wanted to do what’s best for his career.” via UPROXX
THAT. That right there is the condescending shit I’m sure Irving was sick of. Now, yes, LeBron is the best player in the world and you’d be stupid not to take his advice, but there comes a time and a point where you gotta stop treating people like children, which LeBron seems to be missing here.
Bleacher Report even said as much, citing a Stephen A. Smith report on the situation:
“James showed a little disrespect Monday while referring to his former teammate as “the kid,” which was apparently an underlying problem in their relationship. Stephen A. Smith of The Undefeated noted there was a problem of the veteran treating Irving like a child.”
So Kyrie said enough of this shit and shot his way out of town. Followed up by cryptic silences and then his since viral appearance on First Take where he basically told LeBron to fuck himself.
Now we’ve got LeBron coming out with this sob story like a scorned lover saying “I tried to do whatever I could to help the kid out.”
Don’t give me that bullshit LeBron. Kyrie Irving carried the Cavs down the stretch in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals and hit the goddamn game winner and ya didn’t even mention his name once afterwards. So Kyrie was over it, time to move on. Now what would make it all the sweeter? Beating LeBron on the way of course.
But, I gotta give respect where its due though because thats what makes me a Big-J Journalist. As soft as LeBron comes off at times, this was an A+ response when asked what advice he’d give Kyrie now. Sounds like something Kobe would have said in his prime:
“If my son went to another team and asked for advice, I ain’t giving him s–t,” he told the media, per Ben Axelrod of WKYC.
ESPN – Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is “angry” that the NBA moved up the start of the season to lessen the amount of back-to-back games and eliminate any teams playing four games in five nights. Speaking at Southern Methodist University on Wednesday, Barkley sarcastically said he wanted to “commend the NBA” for cutting the amount of back-to-back games. The 2017-18 schedule reduces the number of back-to-back games to an average of 14.4 per team, down from 16.3 per team last season. No team has more than 16 back-to-backs this season. “You know, these poor babies can’t play back-to-back games. They’re making $20, 30, $40 million a year. But we want to make it convenient for them. They’re making $40 million making a year, we can’t stress ’em out. So we’re just going to make it more comfortable for them. The private jets and four-star hotels aren’t enough,” he said, continuing his sarcastic tone.
God bless Charles Barkley, the guy just says whatever the fuck he’s thinking, which is truly a dying breed these days. Sure, a lot of players say he’s just bitter, which is on full display in his frequent near fist fights with Shaq on TNT. But he’s right.
I understand what the NBA is trying to do here; eliminate, or marginally disrupt, the practice of teams resting its top stars. Especially for nationally televised games. There was nothing worse than when the league hyped an upcoming Spurs game for weeks only to find out Tim Duncan and half the starters are in three blazers on the bench.
So if this helps reduce that, then fine. But to Chuck’s point he says the league is babying these players that are already making $20+ million per year. So if they’re complaining about back to backs now, what the hell are they gonna bitch about next?
Credit to LeBron James, who has really lead this revolution of giving the players more power than they’ve ever had before. He was really the first guy to ask why should I sign these long term contracts with Cleveland? How am I going to make sure they keep their promise to always be improving my team? As the best player in the league LeBron has created more leverage than any other player in American sports by signing the now common 1+1 deals. Basically a one year contract with a one year player option that subtly threatens he’ll leave in Free Agency if ownership doesn’t keep improving the team. Gotta give the dude credit for continuously putting himself in the best situation.
So I agree with what Chuck is saying here 100%, especially about road trips:
“It’s just sad because you’re just disrespecting the fans. You know they’re only going to get to see you one time a year in some of these situations, and you would think a guy was like, ‘You know what, they’re only going to see me one time a year, I’m going to play in that city.”
But I’m pragmatic and times are a changing. Guys don’t wanna play back to backs. Coaches want to rest their players. Look at the Cavs, they take half the regular season off because having the best regular season record doesn’t mean shit to them. So if this is what allows players to suit up for those random road trips then fine. I’d be bullshit if I paid $100 for a ticket to see Anthony Davis at the Garden, only to see he’s sitting out because he needs some R&R. Ultimately it’ll be good for the league, but keep spitting that hot fire Chuck. Say that shit.
The 300s 