Category: NBA

LeBron James Gets Popped by Draymond Green, Nearly Dies On Court

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I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that wasn’t a pretty solid hit for an NBA game. LeBron’s a big guy, but so is Draymond Green. Did LeBron embellish it a wee bit? 100%

But thats besides the point. What I’m hear to talk about is LeBron’s quote after the game. He said he’ll be fine because “I’m a football player.” No, sir you are not. You’re actually one of the preeminent floppers in the floppiest league in the world outside of the Premier League. So no, you’re a basketball player.

Can we at the very least use this video as a reply to any talking head that throws out the lazy take “LeBron could play tight end in the NFL.” No he could not. He could absolutely play tight end in the Pro Bowl. But in a real NFL game, when he gets smoked coming over the middle by that human steroid James Harrison, LeBron would take his ball and go home. Or he’d be dead. Either way, kid ain’t playing in the NFL.

LeBron “I’m Not the GM” James Now Openly Discussing Moves the Cavaliers Need to Make in the Media

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ESPN – “As the Cleveland Cavaliers finalize a deal to acquire sharpshooter Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, LeBron James declared that the work is not done for the defending champions.”

LeBron has it so, so good. The guy is 1,000% calling all the shots in Cleveland. He’s assembled the team he wants. He made the Cavs trade the No. 1 overall pick in Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love (who he won’t even let in team Insta’s) and singlehandedly got the coach fired last year. Hell he probably even picks the Gatorade flavors in the lockerroom.

But if any moves go sour, if any acquisitions or trades flop, hey man I’m not the GM. YES YOU ARE. Well, now LeBron (I mean the Cavs GM David Griffin) has made another great move in trading (reported) for Kyle Korver. That’s just what this team needs to make life even more unfair for the rest of the East. But put all that aside, before Korver even lands in Believeland, LBJ is already dropping quotes like this to the media:

“We still got a couple more things we need to do,” James said at Cavs shootaround Friday morning in preparation for their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. “We got to get a point guard.” It was a continuation of the point guard drum James was beating after the Cavs lost to Chicago on Wednesday. “Yeah, it’s my last time saying it,” James said. “We need a point guard.”

Man life is good when you’re LeBron. You’ve got an entire franchise by the balls on continuous 1-Year deals with the threat of opting out always looming. You get to be the de facto GM except for when shit hits the fan. And now he’s just publicly demanding additional moves to the press.

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I still LOVE Tyronn Lue though:

“With the trade for Korver still not official, Lue was initially coy about what his addition could mean. “What shooter?” Lue said. “Like me? Well, shit, if you add me, man, butt-naked shots, nobody around, I’d probably shoot 54 percent.”

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Milwaukee Bucks Are Crushing Marketing: Now Selling 10 WIN Plans

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ESPN – For years, NBA teams have sold 10-game plans for fans that don’t want to commit to buying a whole season worth of games. On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks will announce that they’re offering a 10-win plan. That’s right, guaranteed wins. In a package that will go on sale Tuesday through Jan. 11, the Bucks will sell fans a ticket pass for $149 that will begin on Jan. 13 against the Miami Heat and will be active until the Bucks win 10 home games.

What an absolutely genius move by the Bucks here. This team is on the up, but fans in Milwaukee do not give a shit. A pretty decent team that is developing one of the best young players in the NBA in Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they still rank 27th in attendance.

So the Bucks are guaranteeing every fan who buys this ticket pack for $149 sees 10 wins, not 10 games, 10 wins, which is absurd. I was a partial season ticket holder for the Bruins last year, when they just happened to be awful at home, and I think they lost something like 8 of 12 games I was at. So I totally get the uncertainty of re-upping for another ticket plan. Milwaukee fans would be stupid to not take the Bucks up on this offer. I can’t even go to ONE Celtics game with a buddy for that price. The cheeseheads could get 20 games for the same price.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a flyover state. Tickets are cheaper. Beers are cheaper. Just a simple life really.

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Demarcus Cousins Would Be the CT of the NBA in Boston

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Pro Basketball Talk – [Cousins] scoring 55 points on 17-of-28 shooting, leading the Kings to 126-121 win over the team they are chasing for a playoff slot. Near the end of the game, Cousins got ejected after barking at the Trail Blazers bench and his mouthpiece coming out — one referee thought he either spit it or threw it at the Blazers bench and gave him a technical, Cousins’ second. He sprinted to the locker room to avoid doing anything stupid. Then the officials talked, decided the mouthpiece coming out was accidental, and rescinded the technical.

People love CT from the Challenge because he is a Masshole through and through, for better or for worse. Guy is an animal, dominates the game, is a total asshole and disregards what anybody tells him, but is also loyal to his guys and hates losing with a fiery passion. Sound like a certain mercurial someone in the NBA?

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Demarcus Cousins would be worshipped here in Boston because of those qualities, not in spite of them. Don’t let the morally righteous sports writers of this city tell you otherwise. Do I agree with Cousins spitting his mouthguard out at an opposing assistant coach? No. But in the midst of a MONSTER 55 point game against a team your fighting for a playoff spot, all while on a winning team in Boston?? Fans around here would be FIRED UP about that and be tripping all over themselves to say how uber competitive he is, like a young KG. And so would I.

Don’t get caught up on a guy being a miserable prick when he’s on a team thats been in the basement of the league every year of his career. You gotta take some chances to win in the NBA if you don’t have a LeBron fall into your lap like Cleveland. So I’ll take a chance that this guy would thrive in Boston and be embraced by this city.

People used to point to the Pacers in the early part of this decade as a team that did it right and built through the draft without any real superstars. They did it on depth, good coaching and some pretty good players in Paul George (who has grown into a star), Roy Hibbert and David West. They were a fun team to watch and root for. But what happened? They never won shit and they got beat every time by bigger, badder teams like the super team the Heat had a few years ago. They slowly got worse and the team hasn’t gotten close since.

Take a chance on a super talent. Or don’t and be the Pacers for the next decade.

Jerry Colangelo and USA Basketball Tell the Rest of the World to Get Their Shit Together

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Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Yahoo – “I’m all for raising the bar for global basketball,” Colangelo said. “The more interest in basketball on all levels, I’m for. I’m a lifer of the game. Basketball is the No.2 sport in the world. We just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive. I’m not going to be making any excuses.

Love it. The cockiest thing I’ve heard from a pro sports executive in a long time. Listen, did the USA Basketball team have a few tight games that reminded people of the disastrous Athens team? Sure. But did they take care of business and then absolutely dismantle Serbia in the GOLD MEDAL game? 100% So Colangelo has every right to tell the rest of the world to get their shit together.

“One of the officials said to me, ‘You oughta play with four.’ I said, ‘No, maybe the other teams oughta get their act together and compete.’ We’ve been helping in basketball around the world for 50 years. We’ve taught the world the game. We’ve taught their coaches.”

Basically telling everyone, hey we taught you the game 50 years ago, time to figure it out or we will continue to bash your brains in. Your choice.

It’s definitely awesome to wreck other countries on the court for years, hell the USA team hasn’t lost a game since 2006, but at some point it’s like playing Madden on Easy Mode. Sure it’s great to win, but it’s the challenge that makes it the most satisfying. Remember trading blows with the Gasols and Spain in 2012? That was a helluva game that made the Gold seem like we really earned it. This year it kind of seemed like the rest of the world just sucked and we showed up to the medal ceremony by default. But hey a win is a win is a win.

Tom Brady Loses His Shit After Dropping a Game of Ping Pong; Cements Reputation as Legendary Competitor

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Yahoo Sports – “He’s the best teammate,” Amendola said of Brady. “He’s so competitive and what-not. I remember one story. It was my first week in the building. He wanted to play some ping-pong. I didn’t really know how to go about it. I know I was better than him. I didn’t want to beat him too bad because I wanted him to throw me the ball. “I knew I was better. Needless to say, his competitive nature unleashed a broken paddle by the end of it. It the reason why we love him, and the reason why he’s the best quarterback.”

What a phenomenal story; Tom Brady losing in a game of ping pong and just losing his shit and smashing the paddle into 1,000 pieces. It only adds to the legend that is Tom Brady. Listen, anyone can win 4 Super Bowl titles, multiple MVPs and Super Bowl MVPs, but it comes down to the uber, ultra competitive guys that go down as legends. Like Michael Jordan doing anything necessary to win, playing mental warfare with guys like the time he wrecked Muggsy Bogues’ career by pulling up in a playoff game and telling him “Shoot it you fucking midget.”

Or how about Kobe Bryant now that he’s retired legit naming his new company “13.” Chris Sacca shared a story of how Kobe landed on that name on Bill Simmons’ podcast relaying,  “Can you believe they drafted 12 other motherfuckers before me? He still wears that, man.”

And then of course, the classic story of a young Dustin Pedroia training at the famed Athletes Performance Institute in Arizona playing ping pong and shit talking 6’4″ Brady Quinn: “I’m going to rip this ball right off your throat,” Pedroia told him.

I want guys on my teams that lose their minds about losing in anything. Not the JD Drew’s and Adrian Gonzalez’s of the world who could give a shit.

P.S. – I’d be remiss to not mention Rajon Rondo just hammering little kids in Connect Four. Savage.

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LeBron James Goes Full Dwight Schrute With This Quote

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ESPN – “I don’t think anyone was prepared for me returning and understanding what the situation was going to entail,” James said when asked how prepared Irving was for his role to change with James back in the fold two years ago. “I mean, that’s everyone here. You know, they had gone through some losing seasons in my previous stint before I came back, so they knew they were getting a pretty good basketball player and a great leader and a good person, and someone that was going to command excellence.”

Listen, I’m glad LeBron won a title for Cleveland. Cleveland can officially come off suicide watch now. Hell, ESPN is even updating the 30 for 30 Believeland to reflect the Cavaliers title. It’s hard to hate on LeBron the player, but it will never, ever stop being hilarious listening to LeBron the person speak. Because he is not even familiar with the word “humble” and it shows in quotes like this. He has legitimately gone full Dwight Schrute.

Steph Curry and Warriors to the Rest of the NBA: Now Youse Can’t Leave

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I think the Warriors got exactly what they needed with this Thunder series; a wake up call. And they’re way better off for it. AKA LeBron and the Cavs are fucked.

The Warriors have been cruising for the past 6 months, which is something that tends to happen when you are routinely winning and winning big. Curry was dominating all year and not even playing in the 4th quarter half the time. They only had 9 losses for christs sake. And all of those losses, while disappointing, had no real averse affect on Golden State. They locked up the 1 seed and then probably thought they’d continue to roll. Except Durant and OKC pushed them to the ledge and the Warriors do what champions do, they fought back, stopped the bleeding and did what they had to do to come out on top. Now they’ve realized that they can’t cruise regardless of how good they might be. So I think the OKC series woke the Warriors up to that fact and now they’re ready to smash Cleveland right out of the gate.

I mean you had guys like Tony Mazz saying on 98.5 that the Warriors really aren’t that good and haven’t beaten anybody. Forget the fact that they won the title last season, won 73 games this season and are going back to the Finals after going through the Spurs and the Thunder. This is where Steph Curry and company become a victim of their own success. If they lose this Thunder series, they could very easily have been written off as another flashy team that was all style no substance like the early 2000s Indianapolis Colts. “Curry won the MVP just because he scored a lot on a top seeded team” people would say.

But with that grit and balls win and Curry and Klay Thompson leading the way back from the brink people are starting remember just how good this team is. And I can’t think of anything funnier than LeBron going to his 6th straight NBA Finals and losing again. 2/6.

DeMarcus Cousins Subtweets Draymond Green Because He’s Got the Heart of a Champion

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Yahoo Sports – DeMarcus Cousins doesn’t seem to like Draymond Green. Why? Well, it’s quite possible that Cousins feels his own reputation is unfair and that Green would have a similar reputation if his team wasn’t potentially the greatest of all time.

You say petulant asshole, I say a guy sick who is sick and tired of losing. Sure it might just be the rationalizing stage of Celtics denial, but I think if you get a guy like DeMarcus Cousins with a solid coach like Brad Stevens, stable ownership and a strong squad around him this guy could flourish in Boston.

Not everyone handles losing well, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s like this guy from my college flag football team. A total hero who would lose his shit on people for dropping the ball, but the guy could ball and when we were rolling I was more than happy to have him on my team. Who knows, it’s a bold strategy, but maybe not playing for a garbage lottery team year after year helps Cousins grow up and finally become a dominant force in the NBA.