The Battle For Los Angeles and New York

Brooklyn has emerged as a suitable cross-town rival for the New York Knicks. (entmoney.com)

Not long ago, the NBA and country's biggest markets were dominated by one team. The Knicks had the heart of New York City and the Lakers had control of Los Angeles.

Not long ago Knicks guard Raymond Felton would have not needed to say, "They will never take over our city." It would be implied. And not much longer ago than that, there was not team to take the city from the Knicks. The Nets were in New Jersey, but try calling a New Jersey team a cross-town rival in New York and prepare to run for your life.

Not long ago, if Kobe Bryant would have said that in LA, his comedy skills would have given him a spot with Jay Leno. The Clippers weren't competition to the Lakers. They just happened to be sharing a building.

Now all of that has changed. The Clippers were the better LA team last season, and it wasn't close. The Nets now reside in Brooklyn, and after a blockbuster trade for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Nets are now ready to make a run at the Eastern Conference.

Felton made the comment about NYC being the Knicks' city after Pierce told a New York radio station he thought it was time for the Nets to take control of New York. It is going to take more than a better winning record for Brooklyn to surpass the Knicks as New York's team. The Knicks have the advantage of history and years of connection with the city, as do the Lakers. The Clippers have planted roots in the city longer than the Nets in NYC, but much of that time was spent with fans wearing paper bags on their heads.

However, what we know about fans (sans die hard fans, there's no converting a die-hard fan) is that they can be fickle, and what is hot is what is important. Jack Nicholson will always be sitting courtside for Lakers games. But what if the Clippers go on a run of deep playoff appearances and even win an NBA title in the next 10 years while the Lakers rebuild following Kobe's retirement? The view of both teams will be much different than how we still come to know it in our minds. Right now it is still hard to imagine the Clippers as the better team because it has been so long since anyone has seen it. And if Brooklyn wins a title while the Knicks continue to lose in the first round every year? People in the borough and fans of the city will be celebrating right alongside.

One championship does not mean the Nets will run NYC, or the Clippers LA. The fan base will grow, certainly, but it would take years for either team to even come close, and even then, tradition is a hard obstacle to overcome.

Whether the Clippers or Nets actually overtake the Lakers and Knicks in terms of city love is not the point. Sports are cyclical and in another 10 years the standings could be flipped again. What is great for the NBA and the cities is that there is finally competition. Clippers fans can brag about their team without being laughed out of the room. The Nets can talk some trash on the Knicks.

Sports are built on rivalries and the two biggest NBA cities finally have rivalries that can capture attention. Not long ago, that was certainly not the case.

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2013-14 NBA Schedule Released; Season Starts Strong

Derrick Rose's first game back with Chicago could be the season opener against the Miami Heat. (fullcourtpumps.com)

The NBA may be in the heart of the offseason, but with the 2013-14 schedule released last night, teams and fans can start looking ahead and circling games on their calendars.

The first days everyone looks for when the schedule finally comes out is the season opener and Christmas Day, and the NBA has made sure neither day will disappoint. In terms of storylines, the first night of the season, Oct. 29, couldn't get much better. The Miami Heat will welcome Chicago in what should be Derrick Rose's first game back in more than a year. A healthy Chicago squad has been thought of the past few years as one of the best changes of ending Miami's reign as champions. That night will also feature a completely upside down rivalry when Doc Rivers makes his coaching debut with the Los Angeles Clippers against the Lakers, who has a completely new lineup, except for Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

Basketball fans will have a feast of five games on Christmas Day and while Chicago will face the new-look Brooklyn Nets, Oklahoma City will play the New York Knicks, Miami will travel to LA to take on the Lakers and Dwight Howard's Houston Rockets will challenge San Antonio, the most exciting game on the schedule could be the night cap, where the Clippers travel to Golden State. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin versus Stephen Curry and the young-but-talented Warriors should be a high-tempo, high-scoring contest that will be fun to watch.

Obviously these are just two days on a very busy 82-game schedule for teams, and every team has a few games worthy of mention here. Dwight Howard's return to Los Angeles and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett's return to Boston are just two that will bring national attention. If you're just interested in finding your favorite team's schedule, Dan Devine at Yahoo! Sports compiled links to every team's schedule on the Ball Don't Lie blog for your enjoyment.

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Kermit Washington And The Punch That Changed NBA Violence

 

Kermit Washington's punch left Rudy Tomjanovich's face broken and changed how violence was perceived
in the NBA. (thegrio.com)

On April 17, 2013, a soccer game took a turn for the worst. After making a call, referee Ricardo Portillo was punched by a 17-year-old player. Portillo fell to the floor and later that night slipped into a coma.

A few days later, Portillo was pronounced dead.

Now, two families are ruined because of one bad, impulsive decision.

A scene similar nearly happened in the NBA during the 1978 season. The NBA was home to numerous violent brawls, often involving the clearing of both benches. It took a horrible event for the league to really start cracking down on the violence.

On December 9, 1977, a fight broke out between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The fight, as described by USATODAY.com:

“[Rudy] Tomjanovich, then a 29-year-old, 6-8 All-Star forward with a feathery shooting touch, rushing to the aid of teammate Kevin Kunnert, who tussled first with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then [Kermit] Washington.

Washington, then a 26-year-old, 6-8 power forward, feeling someone rushing up behind him, turning and delivering a frightful right-hand punch that basically shattered Tomjanovich's face and left him lying motionless in a pool of blood.”

Tomjanovich had ran up in order to break up the fight, but ended up on the receiving end of one of the most harrowing scenes of violence in American professional sports history. He suffered injuries that could have been fatal and he eventually retired just three seasons later at the age of 32.

The media was quick to paint Washington as a villain, however many saw him as a victim of circumstance. In a 1978 interview, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak stated, “We've all talked about it on the Bullets and we all agree. If we put ourselves in Kermit's position, we would have reacted the same way. Maybe what happened between him and Kunnert beforehand was all wrong, but when you turn and see a guy roaring down on you, you have to fight."

While many thought Washington was simply a victim of circumstance, the bigger issue was the relaxed stance the league had on fighting. Punches could be thrown without even a one-game suspension. The league soon started enacting harsher punishments for fighting during an NBA game.

Kermit Washington only lasted until the 1982 season, when he turned just 30, due to back and knee problems.

Washington should have acted as a cautionary tale when people begin to think about acting violently during a sporting event. The punch could have caused a death, but Tomjanovich was lucky to escape alive. Ricardo Portillo and his family were not as lucky, but hopefully his story helps to prevent other incidents from happening. 

 

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D-League Decoded: Mark Madsen's Impact on the Los Angeles D-Fenders

Mark Madsen brings youth, familiarity to SoCal. (jimrome.com)

In mid-May, the Los Angeles D-Fenders — the Lakers' D-League affiliate — announced in a press conference that they hired former Laker forward Mark Madsen to be their new head coach going in to the 2013-14 season. Madsen will replace former coach Reggie Theus, who took a similar job at Cal-State Northridge. Despite only being out of the NBA for four years, Madsen has already held assistant coaching gigs with the NBADL's Utah Flash (now Delaware 87ers) and Stanford before ending up in L.A.

This won't be the first time the D-Fenders have experimented with a former NBA player as the head coach. Theus had a 14-year career in the NBA, but Chucky Brown (part of the 1994-95 NBA Champion Houston Rockets) held the job during the 2009-10 season before being let go.

Were there more deserving coaches that could have been hired over Madsen? Most likely. But the D-League is a business and Madsen has been a relatively big name around Southern California since his playing days at Stanford in the mid to late '90s. Fans are more apt to pay money to go to a game if they recognize a certain player or coach they remember watching. That will be key for Madsen and the D-Fenders because those Laker fans will have nostalgia of when he was performing (or dancing) with the Lakers.

Add that with a good amount of experience both in the D-League and college level and Madsen will probably be a solid fit with the D-Fenders. One of the biggest challenges an NBADL coach faces is the constant change that happens to his roster on a night by night basis. While that won't be much of an issue with a team like the Lakers, who are built around veteran players, Madsen will still have to be creative with his roster and game-by-game rotation on a nightly basis.

One of the better parts of Madsen being with the D-Fenders would probably be his relatively young age (37). Having a young coach like that will not only be helpful to his future as a coach in the world of professional basketball but also helpful to the Lakers organization because they can help nourish his development as a leader. While it would be bizarre to predict his future as a coach in the D-League and the NBA, it's quite possible that he can land an assistant coaching gig like former player Vitaly Potapenko, who was hired to be with Mike Brown in Cleveland. Of course, those dreams and aspirations will have to wait as Madsen and the rest of the D-Fenders are going to have to take that day-by-day journey to reach the mountain tops that the young coach once reached 12 long years ago.

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New NBA Culture Affects The Game's Rivalries

Is the passion and intensity of NBA Rivalries like Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson fading? (nesn.com)

Everyone loves a rivalry. Red Sox vs. Yankees, Lakers vs. Celtics, and Duke vs. North Carolina are a few of the more recognized matches we as fans look forward to each year because of the added disdain each team has for the other.

Tensions between these teams have a tendency to rise and boil over, which makes the ultimate goal of victory mean that much more and taste that much sweeter to a team. Who doesn’t have a story with siblings or friends that you hold over them and constantly retell, just to make sure they remember that one time you were the best? And how much do you hate it when you’re the one on the short end of the stick? Take those feelings and desires to never to be on the losing side of backyard bragging rights, and multiply it by infinity. Then you might begin to have an understanding of what rivalries mean to collegiate and professional athletes.

We’ve heard about the killer instinct. Magic Johnson had it. Larry Bird had it. Michael Jordan had it. It was a necessity to be great in the NBA. A requirement. A prerequisite. A burning desire to be better than the guy next to you that ran so deep, you were in the gym long after the janitors had finished their rounds. Once they stepped on the court, they knew they were better than you, and they made sure you knew it.

That’s how it used to be. Anymore, though, we as fans and media see less and less of it. Kobe Bryant is the most notable active player that media and fans would say has that instinct. But outside of him, who else is there? You could make arguments for few players like Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, or Dwayne Wade, but they would all be met with contention and dispute. Even the league’s nearly unanimous MVP, LeBron James, was referred to as a choke artist and not having the desire to take the big shots until he finally won the title. The attitudes players have toward the game have definitely changed and it has created a very different atmosphere on an NBA court.

There has been a movement away from trash talk and wanting to own the spotlight, and a movement toward keeping verbal exchanges clean on the court, and creating “dream teams” during the regular season. This is not to say that teams of old didn’t have multiple talented players on the court at one point. Just look at the Lakers and Celtics teams form the 60s, 70s and 80s. Even more recently, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the Bulls, Stockton and Malone with the Jazz and Kobe and Shaq with the Lakers were all dynamic duos that needed each other to win titles.

Now, with the explosion of free agency, players are looking to team up in pursuit of the ever-elusive ring. The Celtics started it when they went out and acquired Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to go alongside Paul Pierce. Then the Heat dominated the headlines by bringing in arguably the most gifted player to ever grace the court in LeBron to go along with Dwayne Wade, as well as Chris Bosh. Even before those moves, the Lakers brought in Paul Gasol to fill the void in the post left by Shaq and to take some pressure of Kobe, and then this past offseason brought in Dwight Howard as well.

While it is certainly entertaining to see such prominent names play alongside one another, something is lost in sports when players decide they no longer want to be solo in the spotlight and team up: the rivalry. Players are now best friends on the court, as well as off it, rather than being bitter adversaries during a game. Even the Olympics has contributed to this new movement in the NBA, where players like Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo Anthony and many other All-Stars spend their time as friends and teammates, rather than competitors and rivals. And while some of the greats like Jordan, Magic, and Bird played together in search of a gold medal, they didn’t have the added element of having “dream teams” once they were back on an NBA court. It was back to the rivalries, the trash talk, and the desire to beat their fellow man and make sure they remembered it. That element is slowly fading away with today’s current players.

While, as before mentioned, Kobe is one of the remaining players in the league who most fans and media would say has the killer instinct, he may also provide one of the better examples of a player expressing the desire of teaming up with another superstar, as opposed to wanting to own the spotlight and push anyone wanting to share it back into the shadows. In an article written by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullin back in February, Kobe says if the Celtics didn’t want Rajon Rondo to, “send him my (his) way,” and that he, “loves that kid…he’s one of my favorites.”

Think about that for a moment: a Laker expressing his desire to team up with a Celtic. Is there a fan out there who can see Bill Russell teaming up with Jerry West? Or Magic teaming up with Bird? If you happen to be that fan, I imagine you are the only one. Those players wanted to be the best in the world, and to be the best they had to beat the best. While sportsmanship is very important, the decline of trash talk and the killer instinct is leaving the NBA with less and less rivalries and with more and more players wanting to create the next powerhouse in the league with their buddies.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t go too far, or rivalries may soon not have nearly the importance they once did.


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Is Dwight Howard Strong Enough For The Lakers To Build Around?

Dwight Howard had a less than impressive first year in Hollywood. (bleacherreport.com)

The roller coaster that was the Los Angeles Lakers' 2012-13 came to an end with a anticlimactic sweep in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Not exactly a Hollywood ending. Kobe Bryant's future is in question thanks to a torn Achilles. And Dwight Howard's future is uncertain because he's been, well, Dwight Howard.

Howard's natural athletic ability can be overshadowed by the holes poked in his emotional and personal state. The Lakers would likely want Howard to be the face of the team that it builds around once Bryant hangs up the sneakers, whenever that may be. But many are wondering if Howard can handle all that comes with being a superstar in LA.


It's well known that Howard wants to be a celebrity, as well as a basketball player. Winning games is great and all, but being on TV is cool, too. Was Howard on the phone with his agent trying to get a cameo on Modern Family while the rest of the team was shooting free-throws every day for the past year? That's the only excuse I can think of for shooting 49 percent from the free-throw line. And since he has yet to appear on the popular sitcom, it's not a very good one.


Howard got away with being the joke-cracking, Superman-calling, attention-seeking basketball player he loved portraying in Orlando because he won them games, and they had no other superstar with a different style to compare. But the Lakers have had the pleasure of watching Kobe Bryant for 17 years; a guy who works harder than anyone else, focuses only on basketball and is very serious about winning, and battles through injuries. Not to mention the five championships he's won. That's a hard act to follow, and Howard is not following well.


It was in his Orlando exit that we learned more about the real Dwight Howard. Howard wanted to be in a big city where his stardom could grow. What didn't grow was his likeability or his statistics, as he averaged nearly six fewer points and two fewer rebounds than the 2010-11 season in Orlando (Howard only played in 54 games in 2011-12).

It feels like Howard is trying to be Shaquille O'Neal 2.0, but is falling short in every category. Shaq never averaged fewer than 20 points while in LA and still kept basketball first while juggling a career off the court. Howard is still trying to learn that loveable "Shaq being Shaq" quality that O'Neal had mastered from an early age.

LA is a place that can make a star athlete one of the biggest name in sports, but it and its fans can also rip feeble minds to pieces. Howard has some maturing to do if the Lakers are going to hand him the keys, and he's going to have to decide what his priorities are. Leaving for another team would be the easy thing to do, so if Howard decides to stay in LA and face the critics, that would automatically show growth. But it won't be enough. 


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Friday Roundtable: Best First-Round Playoff Matchup

Denver against Golden State is one of the first-round playoff matchups we're most excited to watching. (nba.com)

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

This week's question: With the NBA Playoffs beginning Saturday, what first-round matchup we are most looking forward to watching?

Alex:
There are plenty of interesting matchups in the first round of the playoffs this year. It's OK to admit it. Secretly, you're not going to dismiss the possibility of the Lakers ousting the Spurs or the Hawks...well, the Hawks will continue to be the Hawks we see every year around this time.

Fortunately, though, it shook out that two young, small market teams are set to give us a noteworthy series in the West. Denver, as the conference's No. 3 seed, is speedy and attacks inside without fear, whereas Golden State (no pushovers in the quickness department, either, if there is such a thing) beats opponents with an outside-in game. The Nuggets have been great in Denver this season and, despite slipping a bit after a strong start, the Warriors' Oracle holds one of the feistiest home-court advantages in the NBA.

There are seemingly few scenarios in which this series doesn't last at least six games (i.e. if it goes just four or five games) with as evenly matched as the teams are. Ty Lawson vs. Steph Curry is the main course, but Kenneth Faried is -- and there may not be a better way to relate this -- fun to watch. He embodies what Denver-Golden State will provide viewers: high energy and tough competition.
These are soon-to-be perennial contenders and they happen to be opponents this year. Stay ahead of the curve and enjoy it now.

Kyle:
If the first round on paper is any indication, this year's NBA Playoffs will be a fun one for the fans. Fans get a good rivalry in Boston vs. New York, giants of the West in San Antonio vs. the Los Angeles Lakers and two up-and-coming, exciting teams in Denver vs. Golden State.

Even with those storylines, I'm most looking forward to Oklahoma City against Houston. The obvious reason is James Harden facing his former team in the playoffs and hoping to spoil the favorite to return to the NBA Finals in the Thunder. These are also two of the highest scoring teams in the country, with the Rockets averaging 106 points per game and the Thunder close behind at 105.7 ppg. This series probably will not go to seven games, but Houston's ability to hit 3-pointers at will and the number of stars and players who have sparked a buzz in the NBA (Linsanity!) makes this an exciting series to watch.

Fred:

I’m looking forward to the Lakers vs. Spurs series. While the Spurs are ranked as the No. 2 seed, and the Lakers are the No. 7 seed, these teams may be more evenly matched than their records suggest. Since Jan. 23, the Lakers are 28-12. The Spurs’ record since Jan. 23 is 24-13.

The Lakers lost Kobe Bryant recently and have a very banged up Steve Nash, but the Spurs have recently released Stephen Jackson and have less than 100 percent versions of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The Lakers still have Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, and possibly Steve Nash, which poses a challenge for the Spurs. Tim Duncan is looking youthful and the Spurs have the best coach in the league with Gregg Popovich.

The Lakers will be fighting to prove their teams isn’t a complete failure, while the Spurs will be fighting to avoid the embarrassment of an upset.


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Torn Achilles and All, Kobe Bryant is a Laker for Life

Some people are counting Kobe Bryant out. Are the Lakers? (cnn.com)

The torn left Achilles tendon Kobe Bryant suffered Friday night is one of the most devastating injuries to a superstar in NBA history. Clearly, it cannot rival Magic Johnson's HIV diagnosis — what can? — but what other marquee name involuntarily missed six-to-nine months? Michael Jordan left for baseball, but no one other than Bulls fans would argue that was the result of an injury. A torn Achilles is tough to recover from, especially at an advanced age. Chauncey Billups may still not be 100 percent after suffering a similar tear last season and at the time he was only about one year older than Bryant is now (34). Bryant's undeniable intangibles, his tenacity, drive and will, are the reason he will persevere and return to NBA action, and those are the same reasons he will remain on the Los Angeles Lakers roster as long as possible.

Hours before the tear heard 'round Hollywood, BDD's own Chris Smith mentioned the amnesty clause befalling Bryant and a fuming Kobe signing with another high profile team in order to exact revenge. The amnesty aspect was a joke that, fewer than three days later, became an argument in some spectators are legitimately encouraging. From collective bargaining agreement whiz Larry Coon at ESPN to low-level blogs, the word is out: the Lakers can save money by using their one-time amnesty on Bryant. Grantland's Zach Lowe estimates the move would save $30-40 million in salary, which increases to around $60 million when the luxury tax and other fees (per Bill Simmons).

That's a bundle of money, even for an historically loose-pocketed franchise like the Lakers. They bring in big names and expect big production, usually getting just that, but in a Murphy's Law season like this — with Steve Nash falling to injury after injury, Dwight Howard stating his plan to pursue free agency and a thin bench not able to patch the holes in a disjointed starting lineup — why wouldn't Bryant get the axe? It would allow the Lakers to build around Howard and make a bid for LeBron James in the summer of 2014 free agency class. Short-term and long-term, the move makes sense.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak is holding pat that Bryant will not be amnestied, though, and even if he does not have the final say in the matter, Kupchak is right. Bryant is one of the few players in the current era that is on the trajectory to spend his entire career with one franchise. He has already logged 17 seasons in the NBA, in addition to playing enough playoff games and spending enough time with Team USA to have roughly 20 years of professional wear and tear on his body. It is unlikely post-injury Bryant will ever be the same as pre-injury Bryant, including what he was up to the moment of the Achilles tear.

But Bryant is the ultimate competitor. He hobbled onto the court and sunk two free-throws after going down Friday night against Golden State. He patterned his game after Jordan and, not surprisingly, absorbed some of Jordan's me-against-the-world attitude. The Lakers organization, top to bottom, knows what amnestying Bryant would mean: saving money, rebuilding into a contender after one year as a fringe playoff team, and getting burned by Bryant whenever they meet whatever team he chooses to sign with. For as un-Kobe as Bryant would be, he would channel all his rage, frustration and resentment into burning Staples Center to the ground every time he visited, be it against the Lakers or the Clippers. As for meeting the Lakers in a different arena? Bryant would soak up the crowd's energy as he pump-faked his way through the Lakers' perimeter defense, actively trying to embarrass his former team.

If keeping a future Hall of Famer on the roster for his entire career does not motivate Lakers brass to retain Bryant, fear will guide them away from using the amnesty clause in this scenario. Using it makes sense, but is it a (calculated) risk the Lakers are willing to take? Or are they too proud to trade a handful of nearly automatic losses for extra money and potentially better playoff seeding? Maybe pride has nothing to do with it for the franchise, but it's everything in the world for Kobe.


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Friday Roundtable: The NBA's Uninjured MVP

 Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving lock eyes during a charity game. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty)

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

This week's question: With Kobe Bryant's injury potentially putting the Los Angeles Lakers in a holding pattern, which uninjured NBA player is most valuable to his team?

Kyle:

The "most valuable player" category is always tricky because people naturally think of the most talented players. While I consider this player one of the best in the NBA, he is not one of the four or five elite scorers that first come to mind.

My most valuable player that a team can't afford to lose to injury is one of the best floor generals in the game; Chris Paul. I considered Carmelo Anthony and James Harden, who both lead their teams in scoring by more than 10 points more than the second leading scorer, but imagine the type of office the Clippers run without Paul. Paul finds his teammates so well (9.6 assists per game) that it almost overlooks the fact he scores 16.6 points per game. Paul's defense and 2.4 steals per game is just as valuable. Other players on the team should be good enough to at least somewhat make up for a lack of scoring, due to injury, on a playoff-caliber team. But good luck finding a backup point guard that can match what Paul brings to the table.

An injury to LeBron James or Kevin Durant would draw questions to the Heat or Thunder's title chances but Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook are both capable of taking over scoring loads. How Paul is able to run the Clippers while he's on the floor is a thing of beauty that fellow Clippers point guards Chauncey Billups and Eric Bledsoe, along with most of the other point guards in the NBA, cannot emulate.

Fred:
Dwight Howard. The Lakers with a healthy and motivated Howard look like a completely different team. Since the All-Star break, Dwight is averaging 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks on 55% shooting. Not surprisingly, the Lakers are 9-3 since then. He’s finally starting to regain his athleticism. He fights hard for rebounds and leaps high for blocks. His demeanor has changed as he finally seems to be having fun on the court again.

The Lakers simply do not have good defensive players outside of Dwight and Metta World Peace. Howard has a tremendous amount of responsibility to protect the paint as speedy point guards blow by the Laker perimeter defense. As soon as Dwight has to come out of the game, the opposing team drives the lane relentlessly without fear. His responsibility is magnified with Jordan Hill and Pau Gasol both being out, forcing the Lakers to go as far as playing World Peace at center while Dwight rests.

There is no denying Kobe has been fantastic this season, but the Lakers wouldn’t have a chance at the playoffs without the recent play of Dwight Howard.

Zach: 
My answer is Kyrie Irving. I just cannot help myself. The guy is not CP3, but he doesn't play in Los Angeles, either. Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers not being a playoff contender this season, Irving has taken fans' recently broken hearts and has begun mending them back together, possession by possession. Irving has brought basketball life back to Cleveland sooner than anyone expected.

This season, Irving averages 23 ppg, shoots over 40 percent from both the field and behind the arc, and dishes away nearly six assists per game. It's not about the numbers. Irving is a showman. Pepsi's 'Uncle Drew' documentaries are enjoyed by everyone, young and old, basketball fan or not. Irving was this year's three-point contest winner at the All-Star Game in Houston. His game presents cunning elements of flash, style and technique all appealing to the eye.

Before Irving even has turned 21, Cleveland has seen plenty of disappointment. We remember Micheal Jordan beating the buzzer, jumping in celebration. We remember 'The Decision', the removal of 'We are Witnesses' posters, and jerseys set aflame as a town feeling betrayed cursed their once hometown hero. Irving will be able to enjoy a well-deserved cocktail a week from tomorrow.

Irving's importance to the Cavaliers is clear. He is the guy and, barring injury, he will be for a long time. 

Alex: 

If Bryant suffered a more serious injury – one that sidelined him for the rest of the regular season – the answer would be Steve Nash. He would be the captain capable of solidifying the Lakers as the eighth seed or possibly overtaking the Rockets to move higher. In the absence of an alternately ball dominant or uber-facilitating Kobe, Mike D’Antoni would hand Nash the reigns to a slightly diluted Seven Seconds Or Less offense that incorporated pick-and-rolls with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.

As it stands, however, Bryant only has a (badly) sprained ankle and a reputation for playing through pain. Instead of Nash, another point guard is the most important, uninjured asset of his team: Jrue Holiday. Working with the Philadelphia 76ers’ patchwork roster of under-developed young players, journeymen and aging role players in the absence of could-have, should-have, would-have been game changer Andrew Bynum, Holiday has been the brightest spot for a team that was competing for a playoff spot until a few weeks ago.

Aspects of Holiday’s game could certainly use improvement, namely his main duty of ball handling. The fourth-year PG has committed 232 turnovers this season (third in the NBA), but that is due more to his position as a crutch in the Sixers’ offense. It only becomes troubling if the trend continues if/when Bynum returns and Philadelphia’s strategy shifts, as Holiday’s miscues have spiked this season by 1.8 more turnovers per game.

Luckily for his team, the good outweighs the bad: Holiday is fourth in the league in assists with 8.7 per game and second in the overall category with 521. Not surprisingly, he is assisting on 39.1 percent of his teammates field goals when on the floor. Presuming those numbers sustain through the end of the season (or even if he can rack up just 11 more assists), they will all be career highs. While a .445 field goal percentage – brought down by a .326 percentage from long range – does not jump off the page, Holiday is shouldering the 76ers’ burden by playing 38.6 minutes per game, leading the scoring charge with 18.6 points per game (which, if he keeps it up, will make for a career-best season 4.6 ppg higher than his current record) and facilitating at a high rate to teammates of a lesser quality.

Holiday’s Win Shares per 48 minutes has dipped since he became the team’s focal point this season, but his career-high 17.7 player efficiency rating and first All-Star nod validate his performance. Philadelphia is 8.5 games out of the eighth seed. Barring a miracle, the Sixers will miss the postseason. But with even a slightly better supporting cast or even a few games swung by a healthy Bynum? We could get caught up in the pre-playoff rush and be talking Holiday up to be the NBA’s next great point guard.

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The Journey And Legacy Of Dr. Jerry Buss

Jerry Buss memorial at the Nokia Theater. (Author' s personal collection)

In 1979, the already historic Los Angeles Lakers were about to enter a new chapter. The largest sports transaction at that time had taken place. A man by the name of Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, and The Forum arena in Inglewood, California.

Dr. Buss earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Wyoming and received a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Southern California. Upon completion of his schooling, Buss taught at USC and worked for a short time in the aerospace industry where he met Frank Mariani. The pair soon founded a real estate firm named Mariani-Buss Associates. While Buss originally intended the firm to solely provide income while he pursued his true love of teaching, rapid expansion caused there to be no time for any other profession. His real estate business, which started with only a $1,000 investment, now expanded from California to Nevada and Arizona. Eventually, Buss acquired enough assets to allow him to purchase the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke.

Shortly after entering the league, Dr. Buss helped launch the Prime Ticket Network (now Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket) in 1985. Prime Ticket allowed people in the Los Angeles area to watch every Laker home game, something not available in previous seasons. Thanks to the interest in the Showtime Lakers, Prime Ticket Network became the standard for regional sports broadcasting.

In 1988, Buss completed an enormous marketing deal with Great Western Bank. The Forum was renamed the Great Western Forum. This move was met by resistance, especially from Southern California residents who didn’t want a historic arena being renamed due to advertising. While controversial at the time, selling arena naming rights has since become commonplace across all major sports in America.

Under Dr. Buss, the Lakers won 10 championships while playing in the NBA Finals 16 times. They reached the Western Conference Finals six times and only missed the playoffs twice. In those 33 years, the Lakers added players such as Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Pat Riley and Phil Jackson were also brought in to coach.

Buss loved the Los Angeles community as much as Los Angeles loved him. Each year he would donate thousands of dollars, tickets, merchandise and autographed items to schools, neighborhoods, libraries, churches and various non-profit organizations in Southern California. In 2009, he donated $100,000 to help fight homelessness in L.A. When a worldwide natural disaster struck, Buss was quick to send donations to aid the recoveries. He also used his love of poker to host tournaments that would help charities such as Smile Train.

After three-plus decades of leading the Lakers, Dr. Buss was admitted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. Less than three years later, one of the great visionaries in professional sports history quietly passed away after a battle with cancer on Feb. 18, 2013. Southern California, and the entire sports world, will never forget him.

“I’ve worked hard and been lucky. With the combination of the two, I’ve accomplished everything I ever set out to do” — Dr. Jerry Buss

Ranking the NBA's Christmas 2012 Uniforms

Danilo Gallinari overpowers Blake Griffin in fashion, but perhaps not in basketball. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)

The NBA's Christmas Day schedule is not the pinnacle of its season — that would be the Finals and the mounting tension leading up to that series during the playoffs — but there are always interesting match-ups with storylines to warrant being put on the slate for one the league's biggest calendar days. Three of this year's five games were won by double-digits and the remaining two were decided in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Whether they were blowing out their opponents, gritting their teeth until the last buzzer or just hoping for some kind of lenience, though, each player that took to the court yesterday donned uniforms exclusive to the occasion. All-[insert single color]-everything was the common thread for each kit in the aptly named "BIG Color" theme, but some fared better than others in the mindful eyes of sartorialists. It may be important to note that the clothes I'm currently wearing hue more toward Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' tendencies than, say, GQ intern Rajon Rondo's preferences. That still puts me within high-five distance of Russell Westbrook, though, so don't be scared away from these rankings of this year's Christmas uniforms, and feel free to point out any oversights in the comments.

"Someone's running away with my hat!" (Reuters)

1. Los Angeles Lakers
By virtue of every team wearing white jerseys in 41 games each year, it would be easy to assume that the Lakers' (lack of) BIG Color uniforms were boring. Not so. By removing the yellow accents and going with purple outlines of numbers, the Lakeshow achieved a minimalist look that was cleaner than their standard home jerseys. The purple's contrast on the pure white background also gave the LA logo on the shorts a phantom appearance. Due to the Winter season, the uniforms could be reminiscent of snow, but they certainly looked better than Kobe Bryant's first foray into a white-out wardrobe.

2. Denver Nuggets
Denver's throwback jerseys are still their best look, but the Nuggets' yuletide navies were a pleasant departure from both the old school style and the normal soft blues. Of the day's new uniforms, this was by far the most plain. Dark color? Check. Light color outlining names and numbers? Yep. The name of the franchise even goes straight across the front of the jersey; there's no visible curve to it. The miner's patch is still present on the back, and it is the flashiest thing about a subdued uni. Miner's...workmen-like...navy...blue collar... There are really too many bad lines that can be dropped about the navy and golds.

Top-five uniforms, top-five facial expressions. (MiamiHerald.com)

3. Oklahoma City Thunder
The numbers are barely-legible on a television screen, but trust that there is still orange surrounding the just-a-shade darker blue of the numbers. The word on the back of the shorts is unnecessary, but clothing manufacturers have to cut loose every once in a while. (There it is. The awful pun that opens your door to leave these rankings, if you so choose.)

(Thanks.)

These are less busy than the usual orange-and-black piped uniforms that typically color the Thunder's lockers. Enter: v-neck, life of the party, and, in this case, a fixture that bridges the gap between the everyday Thunder unis and the Christmas Day attire. Also, the three white sleeves Westbrook sported may not have been a perfect match to the color scheme, but they popped against the light blue.

4. Miami Heat
Dark red. Get it? Because fire is sometimes red and almost always hot? Being able to read the names and recognize the numbers on Miami's jerseys is the near-certain reason the Heat claimed a three-point victory against the slightly better-dressed Thunder.

5. Brooklyn Nets
It's tough to mess up a combination of black and white, but the Nets' standard jerseys look more like a miner's outfit than the Nuggets'. (That of a coal miner rather than a gold miner, of course.) That said, the black-on-black approach is stark, with white outlining, and the blotted-out logo on the shorts looks more like a shield worthy of the Brooklyn Knight than the — what is it? A crest? A basketball piloting an Asteroid ship?

Gerald Wallace isn't a fan of KG's uniform. (Getty)

6. Boston Celtics
Let's be clear: the green-with-white-piping jersey is the only one the C's should ever don outside of the home jersey that flips that color scheme. The green, green and more green take on Boston's uniforms is still preferable to the black-accented kits, if only by a slim margin. The outlined numbers look bulky, especially considering the single-color wording typical in Boston. Such is life in the bottom half of a list that ranks uniforms.

7. Los Angeles Clippers
Too much red and not enough blue, plus the cursive script makes it look like Blake Griffin's mom had too many leftover felt iron-ons and went to town on some sleeveless shirts.

8. New York Knicks
If you didn't wince at Carmelo Anthony's orange jersey-orange shorts-double orange shooting sleeves-orange headband-orange socks get-up, congratulations. You probably watched the Knicks/Lakers contest longer than my 11-year-old brother.

These uniforms are simply too bright. The New York logo looks kind of cool with the knocked-out treatment, but little else does, especially the way 'Melo rocked it.

"Blast off! lol" - Jeremy Lin (David Banks/Getty Images)

9. Houston Rockets
Bland, although the majorly gray unis are a perfect fit, conceptually. The font across the front of the jersey longs to look futuristic, implying space travel and discovery of the unknown, while the top-to-bottom gray hearkens back to the way rockets were portrayed in early science-fiction movies. It works, in a mixed up kind of way. Kudos to the designers for changing the lining at the jersey's edges to darker lines to add texture. Overall, though, these look boring and no amount of prettying them up with theories of throwback references can fix that.

10. Chicago Bulls
Um, these look like the jersey I wear to rec league. Same Sharpie magic, different angles.

(Alex Skov, Professional Photographer)

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Friday Roundtable: Merry Christmas from the NBA

Wade. Howard. Bryant. James. Durant. These are some of the NBA's Christmas Day stars. (Getty Images)

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: The NBA season is closer to its halfway mark than it is to the opening tip-off. Each year, the Association schedules marquee match-ups for Christmas Day. This year's slate of holiday games includes a rematch of the 2012 Finals; Boston in Brooklyn; Knicks/Lakers in Hollywood; the Rockets visiting the Bulls; and the Clippers hosting the Nuggets. Which game will  be on your TV?

Shawn Deegan: 
It’s that time of year again. Lights on the tree, presents being exchanged, and basketball brought to the front of the sporting world. With the NBA taking center stage, there will be a handful of games to make sure you see. However, for my money, the one game that is a must watch is the Heat vs. the Thunder. Now, normally I’m a patron for the small-market, under the radar teams who don’t normally get to share the spotlight with the big boys. However, on the big stage, it’s all about the match-ups of the best against the best, and there are no better players than Lebron James and Kevin Durant. Both will play the three-spot in this game, so the odds we see these two square off one-on-one are high. Durant is one of, if not the elite scorer in the game, while Lebron has become arguably the best all-around player in the NBA. Both bring contrasting styles of play and sensational talent that is unparalleled. Any time two of the best meet, it’s a good time to watch, but adding the spotlight of the Christmas Day game should elevate the drama to another level.  


Kyle Davis: 
Knicks/Lakers easily has the most storylines and drama to surely make for a great game, the veteran Celtics taking on a renewed Nets team should be good basketball and who doesn't like a Finals rematch? I would like to cop out and say all three of them but since I have to pick, I'll take the Thunder/Heat matchup. No team is better than the Thunder (21-5) right now, who were on a 12-game winning streak before Thursday's loss to Minnesota. The Heat aren't playing too poorly either, especially at home, where they are 12-2.

This game isn't lacking star power either. This is the battle of Big Three's, and the Thunder's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka are playing just as well as James, Wade and Bosh. Durant is scoring at will (nearly 28 points per game), while Westbrook is still finding plenty of shots. It's starting to look like Wade's prime is leaving him (although that's still with him averaging nearly 20 ppg), but LeBron doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. Not sure you'll find more pure talent from top to bottom in any other Christmas game, so you know there will be plenty of highlights.

The Thunder are not going to take this game lightly. Durant and Co. have been pegged to win a title at some point, and the Heat took away their first chance last year. OKC wants nothing more than to beat Miami any chance it gets, because Durant and this team are great competitors, and they know who is standing in their way of a title. Yet the Heat still have more to prove ("not one, not two, not three ...").  Both teams are going to want this one for Christmas.


Alex Skov:  
Thunder/Heat is tough to pass up, and, for my money, Rajon Rondo is one of the most exciting players in the NBA right now, but the most intriguing Christmas Day match-up to me is the first game in Staples Center. The New York Knicks are 19-6, but five of those losses have come on the road. New York has allowed opponents to go over the century mark in three of those losses, including giving up a whopping 131 points to the Rockets during a Thanksgiving hangover. The Lakers are under .500 overall, but 8-6 at home. Steve Nash should be back in the starting line-up, which may not solve all of the Lakers' woes (especially on the defensive end), but his presence will make the Knicks' defense show a level of respect that LA hasn't gotten during Gatsby's time away due to injury.

The first meeting between these two anchors of their respective coasts ended with New York winning by less than 10 in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 13. Carmelo Anthony, looking like the early MVP candidate that he is, outdueled Kobe Bryant in that contest by scoring 31 points. While Bryant's attempt to save his team ended with the personal victory of a double-double (31 points, 10 rebounds), Kobe's never been one to take things lightly. The tension between Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni and Anthony led to D'Antoni losing his job in New York, a destination Nash considered as a free agent this summer.

The storyline of Kevin Durant and his ever-improving supporting cast taking on the world's best all-around basketball player and his All-Star teammates is an obvious one, but there are multiple plot twists in this Knicks/Lakers saga that make the drama even more appealing. It's not like Anthony, Bryant, Nash, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard are bad at basketball, either. There's an outside (read: across the street, past the city limits and over state lines) chance that former D'Antoni and Nash partner Amar'e Stoudemire will be healthy enough to suit up for the Knicks, too.

What was is that D'Antoni said in his first press conference for his new head coaching gig? “If we're not averaging 110 or 115 points per game, then we need to talk"? The Lakers aren't living up to that statement, but no one knows how to run D'Antoni's offense better than Nash.


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Friday Mini-Roundtable: Who Will Be The NBA's Next 30,000-point Scorer?

(sneakerbardetroit.com)

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

This week's question: Kobe Bryant scored his 30,000th career point Wednesday night, making him the sixth player in NBA history to accomplish the feat. Who will be the next NBA player to reach the 30,000-point career scoring mark?

Kyle Davis:
It's difficult to persuade myself to pick anyone other than LeBron James. He reached the 5,000 and 10,000-point mark faster than Kobe, and is nearing in on 20,000 for his career, which he should easily hit this season. The other obvious choice to me was Kevin Durant, and Sports Illustrated agreed, but James has a four-year head start, and I don't see him slowing down enough for Durant to surpass him. I do think an interesting argument is if there is a scenario where Durant reaching the 30,000 milestone at a younger age than James. James has a head start by coming into the league out of high school, where Durant played a year at Texas. But looking at their style of play, it wouldn't be horribly shocking. Durant is a better pure shooter than Lebron, we know that. And as James gets older, even though he is a freak physical specimen, he will probably need to rely more on his jump shot. Both have remained healthy throughout their careers, but a knee or any leg injury would hurt James' explosiveness, which he thrives on, more than Durant's jump shot. Regardless of who is the youngest to get to 30,000, I think we'll see both names among that Pantheon of great scorers.

Alex Skov:
LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the two names that immediately come to mind, and for good reason. Durant already has several scoring titles and still has his prime years ahead of him while James is, well, the most dominant basketball player in the world. But Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus notes that Dirk Nowitzki is the next active player that could feasibly hit the 30,000-point mark. He is only 5,866 points away, compared to Durant's 10,527 and LeBron's 19,519. Still, at 34 years old and with the injury bug starting to bite -- not to mention O.J. Mayo's ascendance in his absence -- I can't call Nowitzki a shoe-in. Even playing the fewest minutes per game of his career, James should pass 20,000 career points this season and keep up the scoring pace as it becomes more and more evident that Miami's Big Three is actually LeBron, a past-his-prime Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (...and his faces). Durant will get there eventually, but James' path to 30,000 points is clear barring major injury and he will reach it before any other player.


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Pau Gasol's Leaving Lakerland, Eventually

"That's where I'm going?" (Gary A. Vasquez/U.S. Presswire)

Mike Brown is the most recent casualty of the Los Angeles Lakers' post-Phil Jackson era. He joins Shannon Brown, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom, who all played different roles in helping the franchise win back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and 2010.

The number of hard feelings that each one carries from his means of departure varies. Brown, for instance, declined to pick up a player option that would have kept him in L.A. last season and found a bigger payday with the Phoenix Suns. He had a say in the way he left, unlike Fisher — who nearly became a three-time Laker this fall after being traded to the Houston Rockets in March — and Odom, one of the league's most talented sixth-men who was flipped for a mere trade exception after being included in the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers trade that never happened due to a David Stern veto.

Even considering the boot Mike Brown received after coaching fewer than 80 regular season games, Pau Gasol has had the roughest road out of Southern California. The worst part, obviously, is that Gasol is still clad in purple and gold.

By the numbers, the Spanish big man was the Lakers' second-most productive player in 2011-12 behind (who else?) Kobe Bryant. In the championship years, too, Gasol was an important weapon for Jackson's juggernaut.

New philosophies have not been kind to him, though. New additions Steve Nash and Dwight Howard were supposed to make things easier by drawing more attention, allowing Gasol to shoot mid-range jumpers and work on his three-point range.

That's not quite how it's panning out.

Howard started slow while still recovering from back surgery earlier in the year and Nash suffered a small fracture in his left fibula when he knocked knees with Portland Trailblazers rookie point guard Damian Lillard in the Lakers' second game of the season. Mike D'Antoni, who claimed the head coaching position shortly after Brown's firing, implemented his trademark offensive system, which minimizes Gasol's role on the court by moving away from his strengths. As a result, his minutes have waned as Antawn Jamison has gained favor and, thus, playing time.

Currently, Gasol is benched while his knees rebound from tendinitis. His view from the bench is clear. He can see not only the teams entering Staples Center, but also the cities of Atlanta, Minneapolis and Toronto — the homes of three franchises rumored to have interest in acquiring Gasol. The Raptors are said to be the Lakers' most likely trade partner, but their projected package of Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon does not contain the shooter needed in Los Angeles. Same with the Hawks, as Josh Smith is their only relevant asset in this situation. Timberwolves general manager David Kahn has made more than his share of mistakes in the past considering Minnesota's roster, but swapping Kevin Love for Pau Gasol would be foolish in any capacity due to age, if not Love's cemented star status on a small market team.

That is without namedropping Odom, Paul, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic — other players that would have moved in the Stern-stopped four-team trade that would have landed Gasol in Houston at the beginning of last season.

Ever the soothsayer, Bryant recently weighed in on his teammate's quandary:

"Put your big-boy pants on. Just adjust. Just adjust. You can't whine about it. You can't complain about it."

To his benefit, Gasol has not complained about it. Not even when Rockets radio announcer Craig Ackerman co-opted Bryant's quote into what might end up being the greatest call of the season. Gasol's been benched, asked to play more minutes at center rather than his preferred power forward spot, been dangled over the trade scales and seen regimes change.

No complaints.

All signs point to Gasol being the first casualty of the Lakers' D'Antoni era, though. Soon, maybe, Gasol will find himself in a spot where he is expected to be more vocal; to be a leader; to not play second-fiddle; to be Pau.


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