NBA Considers Putting Nicknames On Heat, Nets Jerseys

"King James" could soon make its way to the back of a Miami Heat jersey. (nba.si.com)

The NBA is about superstars. It is also about the money, like any other successful business. The league is considering yet another way to capitalize on player stardom to sell more jerseys; putting the players' nicknames on the back of the jerseys.

NBA.com posted a story from the Associated Press on its website late Monday night that the league may replace Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets players' last name with their nicknames on the back of the jerseys for one of the teams' four head-to-head matchups. For example, LeBron's jersey would say "King James," Paul Pierce would have "The Truth," Kevin Garnett "KG," Chris Andersen would be "Birdman" and Ray Allen would have possibly the best of them all with "Jesus Shuttlesworth," in reference to his role in the movie "He Got Game."

Allen was quoted in the AP story saying, "It shows growth in our league and it shows we do adapt to what's going on around us. And we're still kids, playing a kids' game. Even though we're now men playing a kids' game, we still remember where we come from. Everybody had a nickname and it's a way to let the fans in a little bit more."

Whether for or against the idea, it is sure to sell jerseys, especially with the younger audience. The NBA is the only sport in which nicknames are prevalent, due to the visibility of players and amount of impact players in the league. The NFL and MLB are leagues where the teams are mostly still the focus more than the individual, minus a few elite quarterbacks. 

The question will be what will happen for players who don't currently have a nickname? Will they just have their last name on the jersey, or pick a name out themselves? Maybe it could be left to a fan vote? Players might not be thrilled when Greg Oden is forced to have "Crutches" on the back of his jersey, or "Grandpa" for Juan Howard thanks to the fans, but it would be interesting.

This is just the latest step in the evolution of the uniform as a marketing tool for the league, and it surely won't be the last.

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Could we see Brooklyn's Finest in the Finals?

Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news just prior to last Thursday's NBA Draft.  There's a push for Eastern Conference power in Brooklyn.

The Nets and Boston Celtics had bigger ideas on draft night. Agreed upon in principal; Jason Terry, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce will join the Nets in exchange for Brooklyn's 2014, '16 and '18 first-round selections, Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks and Kris Joseph, along with the signing and trading of Keith Bogons. The current largest off-season blockbuster displays the Nets' desire to win now and accommodates the Celtics' process of rebuilding. Teams are able to make the deal official on July 10. 

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are making a final championship push. (Don Ryan)

Mikhail Prokhorov is willing to pay for what it takes to win. The starting five of Derron Williams, Joe Johnson, Pierce, Garnett and Brook Lopez will cost the Nets close to $80 million. Brooklyn's total roster payroll is projected around $180 million, including $80 million in luxury taxes. No team in NBA history has accumulated similar totals.

Deron Williams must make Brooklyn's new show work. Getty Images)

If only the NBA Network program, 'The Association," could bring a closer look at the Nets again following the team's debut season playing in Brooklyn. Garnett, Pierce and Terry are NBA Champions and bring pedigree to a team that signed Joe Johson to a superstar contract last season. Johnson is known and criticized for being soft-spoken and having a passive attitude on the court despite coming through clutch at the buzzer multiple times. Garnett doesn't tolerate anything that isn't 100 percent effort from his teammates, just ask former Celtic Glen Davis. Pierce is a leader that is not afraid of big moments and takes some scoring responsibility off of Johnson and Williams. Terry, the Jet, flew low to the ground last season and may be running low on gas. Rookie head coach Jason Kidd is responsible for handling the minutes, personalities and emotions of a roster filled with former rivals and peers. Kidd could quickly become a scapegoat if the team doesn't find immediate success. Former coach Avery Johnson was fired after a 14-14 Nets start last season. 

New Nets head coach Jason Kidd. (Craig Ruttle)

The Nets now share a reputation similar to another team playing in New York, the Yankees. Neither team regards luxury tax when spending the necessary amount it takes to win. Every game will shine under the brightest media spotlight, as there's a lot pressure to win. It's the type of situation that sparks talk of championships and dynasties after victories and talks of trade and changes after defeats.

Expecting a championship is highly optimistic and wishful thinking. The Heat, Pacers, Bulls and crosstown rival Knicks are all talented enough to compete with Brooklyn in a postseason series. Garnett and Pierce starting a final pursuit for another championship, now as members of the Nets, coached by a former opponent in Kidd, makes for a story the league has never seen. The aging roster certainly remains talented, but has to compete with younger knees and fresher legs. The ability to stay healthy and a lack of depth are reasons for concern.  

It's still the beginning chapters of the franchise and success will undoubtedly arrive at Barclay's Center, but these are the final pages for some of the game's all-time legends. Anything beyond an opening round series victory should be considered overachieving for the Brooklyn Nets this season.

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LA Clippers Trade For Celtics Coach Doc Rivers

After nine years with Boston, Doc Rivers has been traded to lead the Los Angeles Clippers. (latimes.com)

The Los Angeles Clippers didn't fly as high, despite their "Lob City" nickname, as the organization and fans wanted under Vinny Del Negro. So the Clippers went out and traded for nine-year Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers to lead the charge into what they hope can be NBA-championship team.

It's no secret the Celtics will soon not look anything like what we've come to know from the guys in green. Danny Ainge, Boston's director of basketball operations, had been open with his thoughts on breaking up the Celtics big three (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen) for several years. Now Ray Allen is gone and with Garnett and Pierce getting into the twilight of their careers (Garnett is 37 and Pierce 35), Boston is in full rebuilding mode. With Rivers gone, Garnett and Pierce's future with the team is uncertain.

Which brings us to Doc Rivers. By trading the coach, the Celtics now get out of the $21 million contract over the next three years it would have had to pay Rivers, while the Clippers will now pay that amount and give the Celtics a first-round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Talks of a trade involving Rivers had been in talks for the past two weeks and while names like Garnett and DeAndre Jordan were tossed around and it at times seemed like the trade was dead, both teams seemed to get what they needed. ESPN's Jackie MacMullan (link above) hinted in the story that the trade for Rivers could seal a long-term deal with Chris Paul, who is the engine of the Clippers team. LA will also have a coach with a history of playoff success (two NBA Finals appearances, one title) that could take the Clippers to the next level of not just making the playoffs, but being a championship contender.

Then there's Boston. The Celtics know the next few years will be rough. Their stars are old and have been injured, and it will take a couple of drafts to get the new, young talent up to a respectable point. Because of this, they didn't want to pay a coach $7 million a year with a rebuilding team and the team can now use that money in other ways.

There is still more each team can do this offseason to improve, but this is a start for two teams headed in different directions; the Clippers taking another step toward the NBA elite teams and the Celtics taking a few steps back to get younger and rebuild.

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Dirk Nowitzki Reaches 25,000-Point Milestone

Dirk Notwitzki became the 17th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points for his career. (streetball.com)

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has racked up plenty of accolades over his 15-year NBA career.

Already the possessor of 11 All-Star nominations, an MVP and NBA Finals MVP award and a NBA Championship, Nowitzki is now the 17th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points in his career. Nowitzki joins elite company in Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett as the only active players to achieve the scoring mark. The next closest active players are Paul Pierce (24,010), Ray Allen (23,781) and Tim Duncan (23,745). Dirk now needs less than 200 points to pass Jerry West for No. 16 all-time in scoring.

More impressive is Dirk became one of nine players all-time to score 25,000 points and grab 9,000 rebounds. The other names on the list: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Garnett. Not bad company.

This milestone further cements Nowitzki's legacy as a player, which is likely to end in the hall of fame, but bigger than his career was that the German-born player's success led the way for the current tend in the NBA. There may not be a 7-footer in the game with a better, smoother, shooting stroke and his European style of play, where big men routinely play outside the paint, is now a normal part of the NBA game.

Dirk's success also had to have an impact on the NBA's international reach. The NBA is filling with international talent who are in the league thanks to Dirk's, and other foreign players of his time, ability to translate the European game to the NBA. No one has made the transition better than the 7-foot German, as proven by the fact that Nowitzki's NBA MVP award is the only won by a European-born player.

Nowitzki has accomplished nearly everything he could have in the game and soon another tall, sweet shooting European player will take his place trying to emulate the 7-footer. This is Nowitzki's greatest gift to the NBA.

Friday Mini-Roundtable: Trading the NBA

J.J. Reddick is among the names of possible trades before the Feb. 21 deadline. (brewhoops.com)

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among three of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: With the NBA trade deadline coming up on Feb. 21, what trade is most likely to, or what trade should, happen?

Kyle Davis:
The trade rumor I would keep an eye on is the Clippers and Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe is a valuable draft commodity and with the Clippers already having an elite point guard in Chris Paul and a need for another shooting front court presence to play alongside Blake Griffin, Bledsoe could soon find himself in another city. What makes this trade so interesting is it's a risky move. Paul has battled through his share of injuries and Bledsoe has been a reliable and comforting backup to have step in when needed. But the Clippers seem to feel like the time is now to make a deep run in the playoffs, and seem to feel another post player will prove more valuable this season.

Alex Skov:
Pau Gasol's injury virtually makes him untradeable. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce helped power the Celtics to a 7-0 start after Rajon Rondo's injury, protecting their spots on Boston's roster. Most of the other players on the trading block are there solely because their salaries and production are out of proportion. If one trade happens, it's going to involve J.J. Redick. The Milwaukee Bucks seem to be the suitor most likely to acquire the former Duke guard since the other teams that may make a play for him — namely the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers — are in better situations to survive without Redick's dead-eye shooting abilities. Hypothetically, this means the Bucks would be more willing to send better pieces to Orlando. Indiana is the current No. 3 seed and the Bulls are sitting at fifth in the Eastern Conference. Those are safe spots. Milwaukee, at eighth, can't be quite as comfortable.


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Rajon Rondo's Injury Is The Boston Celtics' Future

Rajon Rondo's torn ACL puts the Celtics' future in jeopardy. (sbnation.com)

One player does not make a team, but with this year's version of the Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo is the most valuable member of the entire franchise, from the top brass down to the ball boys. He is one of the few players in all of basketball -- let alone in the NBA -- who can change the course of the game with sheer will, so when he went down with an ACL injury against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the Celtics' chances of a playoff berth plummeted.

Already a sub-.500 team with Rondo, the Celtics' 21-23 record is unlikely to improve much without him running the show. There was already jabber about the C's potentially missing the playoffs (they are currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, 2.4 games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers) and the market of available point guards is not what one would call "impressive." Even if there were high-caliber guards lurking without a team, there is a strong chance that they still would not be capable of leading the current iteration of the Celtics as Rondo does. You see, he's special. That's why there is always talk about how he controls the "tempo" of the game rather than talk about a vicious first-step or any other attribute that is often assigned to point guards.

This season, though, is a small piece in a much larger puzzle for Boston. Even before the franchise was supposedly shopping Rondo during the last regular season, there was talk of blowing up the team's aging core in order to bring in fresh talent and build a new title contender. Ray Allen exited through free agency this summer; Rondo left in a completely different way on Sunday; and Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce -- a career-long Celtic to this point -- are left to inspire what now looks like a patchwork roster. Both are aging, and Celtics GM Danny Ainge is not shy in expressing his opinion that the famed Boston roster led by Larry Bird was kept intact too long when it could have been utilized to quicken a rebuilding process by trading away the principles when they had higher values. Garnett is playing at an All-Star level and Pierce can almost make the same claim. In this particular scenario, Garnett (age 37) and Pierce (age 35) are better trade bait than they are floor generals for the Celtics. That's no reason to go full-tank mode in Boston, but wear-and-tear will catch up to what's left of this era's original Big Three, and Ainge will have to decide if he's going to repeat history or stick with his gut feeling to move the veterans while he can still get positive returns.

Why stop at Pierce and Garnett, though? There will be calls to see if the Celtics are willing to trade Rondo, even in his current state. He leads the NBA in assists despite sitting out 11 percent of Boston's games to date. Rondo is undeniably talented and, weighing the options, wouldn't a cellar-dwelling team at least consider taking a flyer on him and parting ways with reliable role players (which the Celtics could use to bolster there current line-up) and/or future draft picks (which Ainge would covet, if he could also shop Pierce and Garnett)?

Rondo's ACL injury is bigger news than Allen leaving. The city of Boston -- already sunken from the New England Patriots' second consecutive loss late in the NFL postseason -- must now look into the face of professional basketball's future in Boston to see how long it will be until their proud and storied franchise will be capable of making a return to the NBA Finals.

Free Agency 2012: Day 1.5 Recap

We’re more than 40 hours into free agency and while few big names have agreed to new contracts, most have held meetings with at least one suitor and multiple other players are expected to sign extensions. Here, we skip past the fluff and get to the action.

"This many, times 11.6 million." Roy Hibbert is making money this summer. (Reuters photo)

• Yesterday, the Philadelphia Inquirer confirmed that Lavoy Allen will make $6 million over the next two years while wearing a 76ers uniform. After being a second-round selection in the 2011 draft, Allen started 15 games last season and earned an extension with his excellent defense.

• In realizing that chasing Dwight Howard is hopeless, the Houston Rockets have made a play for another center. The club agreed to terms with Omer Asik, who spent last season with the Chicago Bulls. He’s no D12, but Asik averaged 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 points in 14.7 minutes as a backup. After he signs the contract on July 11 – the first day free agents are allowed to put pen to paper – the Bulls will have three days to match the offer and keep Asik, if management so chooses, since the Turkish big man is a restricted free agent. Kudos to the Rockets for moving quickly after Howard’s dismissal of any club outside of Brooklyn.

• Kevin Garnett technically avoided free agency all together by deciding on Saturday (the day before the process started) to stay in Boston Celtic green to the tune of $34 million over three years. Kevin Garnett put up 15.8 points and nabbed 8.2 boards per contest last year and continued to be an integral member of a team on the cusp of a Finals berth. With his new contract, Garnett will have made more salaried money than any other player in the history of professional basketball with just a shade under $325 million to his name.

• Across the country, Blake Griffin informed Los Angeles Clippers management that he intends to sign a five-year extension worth up to $95 million. Running mate Chris Paul declined to sign his extension, but things could change now that the All-Star forward has announced his plans to stick around southern California.

• Another big man, RFA Pacers center Roy Hibbert, will make a financial windfall next season no matter where he lands. The Portland Trailblazers offered the Georgetown product a maximum deal of four years and $58 million, according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard. Hibbert has not signed the Blazers’ offer sheet, but likely will, as reported by SI.com. The Pacers did not extend to Hibbert a max deal, but will have three days to make a matching offer if the 25-year-old signs with Portland. If he becomes a Blazer, Hibbert can do one of two things – 1) give Portland some much-needed consistency at the center position by keeping up his All-Star production, or 2) continue the bad luck of injuries to the team’s big men. (Yes, I’m knocking on wood for the sake of everyone involved.)

• As of this post, the most recent free agent news comes out of Indiana, where the Pacers and George Hill agreed to a 5-year deal. Few details are known, but the guard averaged 9.6 points in 50 games during his first season with the team.

• Andre Miller, the facilitator entering his 13^th NBA season, verbally agreed to a three-year contract with the Denver Nuggets. Specifics of the deal are unknown, but Miller was looking for roughly $3 million each season, as reported by Yahoo! Sports. The 36-year-old averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 assists for the Nuggets last year while sharing point guard duties with speedster Ty Lawson.

• He may not be the primary target, but the Brooklyn Nets reached a handshake agreement to retain Gerald Wallace. The swingman – obtained from the Blazers at last season’s trade deadline – declined to pick up a $9.5 million player option for 2012-13. The maneuver worked, as Wallace is expected to sign a four-year, $40 million dollar contract next week.

For a full list of players who could be changing teams, check out ESPN.com’s list of free agents for the summers of 2012 and 2013.


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