Kirilenko's Worth It, But Complicates Deep Frontcourt

The Timberwolves are planning for more celebrating after a busy offseason. (Getty Images)

When I heard the Minnesota Timberwolves were signing Andrei Kirilenko to a contract worth $10 million per year, I couldn’t help but laugh. Kirilenko hasn’t played in the NBA for a year and wasn’t doing all that well before he left. Also, it’s my gut reaction to laugh at anything David Kahn does because at this point, I just assume it’s something silly. But it seems like now, just as I did when Ricky Rubio started playing, I might be going back on my words.

Let’s start with his work in Europe. He signed with CSKA Moscow during the lockout. Something about going to his home country must have rejuvenated him because he ended the season with both the Euroleague MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

After Euroleague was over, he continued his multinational dominance by leading the Russian national team to a bronze medal in the Olympics.

He tallied 20 points and 8 rebounds in the bronze medal match against Argentina; he scored 19 points against Brazil; and got 19 points and 13 rebounds against Lithuania. The best part about Kirilenko's game was the way he looked. He was creating his own shot and not just settling on spot-up jumpers. He was playing the energetic and stifling defense that he originally became famous for, and best of all, he just looked confident.

Kirilenko is 31 now and while he may not be getting better physically, it looks like he’s back mentally. He should be a good fit next to Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio (when he returns). He will also be playing next to his Russian teammate Alexey Shved. The only downside to this move is the possible logjam it creates at the forward position. I’m not sure if Kahn knows that you need more than just forwards and point guards to win games. The team still has Kevin Love and Derrick Williams, they traded for Chase Budinger and drafted Robbie Hummel, a small forward out of Purdue. In addition to them, they also have Dante Cunningham and Anthony Tolliver on their roster.


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Christian Laettner is 43 Years Old Today

Now a coach, Christian Laettner always instructs perfect defense. (ESPN.com)

The world is five days removed from the 2012 Summer Olympics and the hangover is starting to lift. But with all the mentions of the Dream Team's twentieth anniversary, one name has gone largely unmentioned: Christian Laettner.

The former Duke star may not have lit up the NBA, but he did put together a college career that merited him a spot on the 1992 USA Olympic team, giving Laettner the distinction of being the lone amateur on a squad rife with Hall of Famers.

Laettner, now an assistant coach for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, turns 43 today. It's not a milestone birthday, but, without question, it has been a commemorative year for the man whose famous shot is also two decades old this year.


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Welcome to Twitter, Kendall Marshall

The winner of basketball Twitter. (hornets247.com)

When the Phoenix Suns drafted North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall in the first round of the NBA draft back in June, the front office knew the team was getting a pass-first player who would happily facilitate for teammates. What Suns brass probably didn't know is that the No. 13 pick would be a revolutionary.

OK, "revolutionary" may be a bit much, but whoever wrote the Wikipedia entry about Marshall using the acronym "BTB" on Twitter used the word "groundbreaking."

For those not in the know about "BTB" — a group led by us all, at one time or another — it stands for "Been there, bro." The shortened term has been embraced by the basketball community on Twitter, where numerous bloggers and armchair pundits use it as a response to the thoughts of others. That sentence cannot do justice to the entertainment that BTB can bring, but the appropriate digging on the subject is not hard to do, and the discovery is a fun part of the journey.

As TrueHoop's Sean Highkin tweeted, "We have entered the twilight zone." By virtue of being the first to ask for a definition, Marshall became the first professional basketball player known to engage in BTB bandying. It is another example of how engrained social media is becoming in the world of pro sports and the increased interactivity of the celebrity/everyman dynamic in the new age of media.

Marshall's on-court performances during his rookie season, and perhaps several years into his career, will receive leeway from those in the BTB circle. He's part of the club now. One of his self-admitted detriments is trying too often to make The Big Play, but Marshall's already endeared himself to a swath of his new, pro-level audience.

As for that risky pass? btb.

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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The Top 5 All-Time Greatest Nicknames in the NBA

It seems like a right of passage for NBA players. When a player has proven himself in the league, he is granted a nickname, a "knighting" of sorts by his peers and fans. Some are more creative and catchy than others. 

Some players earn a nickname from their style of play, or from appearance or a quirk, and for others we just shorten the name or use initials. Maybe it's because attention spans have shrunk so much that we can't wait long enough to call players by their full names. Regardless, most elite players have nicknames that are used so often we sometimes forget what their actual names are. "King" James, D-Wade, Melo, CP3, Durantula, The Black Mamba, "Big Baby" Davis, Superman, and so on.

In honor of yesterday (Aug. 14) being the birthday of Ervin "Magic" Johnson, we are counting down the top 5 greatest nicknames in the NBA. If you agree, thank you. Think someone was snubbed? Let us know who you would make your top 5.We have a comments section and Twitter feed just for that.

Dr. J (NBA.com)

No. 5 "Dr. J" - Julius Erving

Dr. J played with a certain elegance and ease about his game. Watching him, you would think he just knew what was going on a little sooner and better than his opponents. The story goes that a friend in high school gave him the nickname, after Erving dubbed the friend "Professor." The nickname suits him well - not to mention opening doors for a Dr. Pepper endorsement after retirement - because Dr. J made the difficult plays look easy. You can trust him on the court, he's a doctor.

Karl Malone (slcdunk.com)

No. 4 "The Mailman" - Karl Malone

Where else is the term mailman held in such a high regard? There lies the true greatness of the name. It epitomizes Malone's ability to make plays and has a gritty toughness about it. No matter what the circumstances, the Mailman delivered, or at least that was the idea. And thankfully for both Malone and the post office, the shorts grew longer with time.

Pete Maravich (signis.net)

No. 3 "Pistol Pete" Maravich

Alliteration? Check. Longevity? Check. A headline writer's dream? Check. In a sport that involves "shooting" a ball, Pistol Pete is the perfect nickname for an unbelievable scorer, who didn't have the luxury of a 3-point line. You can imagine the fear of opponents when seeing "Pistol Pete" walk onto the court, much like if he would be entering an old-west saloon. You'd better watch out if ol' Pistol Pete is around. 

Michael Jordan (midwestsportsfans.com)

No. 2 Michael "Air" Jordan

So maybe "Air Jordan" isn't the most creative nickname in the world. But when it's namesake sparks a global marketing boom, can you really leave it out? Jordan did a lot well on the court, but his best trick was hanging in the air for what seemed like an eternity; switching hands on the ball, splitting defenders, ordering room service for after the game. The most exciting play in basketball is the slam dunk and the world sat up in it's seat when Air Jordan got ready for takeoff.

Magic Johnson (interbasketball.net)

No. 1 Ervin "Magic" Johnson

Magic. In sports circles that's all you need to say and everyone will understand. This wasn't just a nickname those who followed the team knew. He will always be Magic Johnson, with lesser references to Ervin sounding more like the nickname. Just think about the person. Johnson was a 6-foot-8 point guard who could do it all: pass, dribble in traffic, and of course, score. And he legitimately played the position, unlike a LeBron or Durant, who will occasionally walk the ball up the court. How many 6-foot-8 players do you see wanting to run the point and you have to look away and cringe, knowing it can't end well? Johnson was magical on the court, and how he's been able to overcome an HIV-positive diagnosis for 20 years is pretty magical in itself.

Honorable mention: "The Admiral" David Robinson, "The Worm" Dennis Rodman, "The Big Aristotle" Shaq, "The Truth" Paul Pierce and "The Answer" Allen Iverson, "Spud" Webb and "Larry Legend" Bird


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Anthony Davis Met Another Formidable Unibrow at the Olympics

Anthony Davis poses with his brother in 'brow. (via Kobe Bryant's Facebook)

To no one's surprise, the USA-Spain gold-medal game was tightly contested. New Orleans Hornets rookie-in-waiting Anthony Davis saw playing time late in the game after sitting for a majority of Team USA's Olympic run, and can claim some contribution to the Americans' 107-100 victory. It is not something he will soon forget.

Ever the worker of back channels, though, Kobe Bryant — Team USA's veteran of veterans — organized something else for his young counterpart. In lieu of snapping photos of his gold medal, Bryant introduced Davis to Armenian wrestler Gadzhimurad Nurmagomedov, another world-class athlete clad with one eyebrow.

Bryant allegedly spotted Nurmagomedov during Team USA's celebration and, thinking quickly, united the Armenian with Davis and uploaded the picture to his Facebook account.

Solid work by Kobe, who is going an unusual route by vying for an after-basketball job as a photographer rather than a coach or broadcaster. If he really wanted to make a name for himself, though, he would have found a way to include Mexican diver Ivan Garcia and complete the unibrow trifecta. It's not often that one can snap a flick of three eyebrows — on three faces — at once.

Kudos to Dan Devine at Ball Don't Lie and Trey Kerby at The Basketball Jones for jumping on this.


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Chris Paul: The Sometimes Overlooked - But Not Underappreciated - Heart of Team USA

Chris Paul celebrating a gold medal with the American flag. (USA Today)

It was the scene everyone expected to see, yet the fact that it was anticipated didn’t take away from the scene of watching Team USA celebrate like excited kids as the U.S. defeated Spain 107-100 to win the gold medal at the London Olympics.

Superstars of the game, who one would assume work hard on their public appearance and try to seem cool, jumped up and down, hugged their coach and celebrated just as hard as the athletes we only hear about every four years. And that’s the way it should be. Although it was expected, the team earned the right to celebrate.

You saw LeBron James hitting clutch 3’s, Kevin Durant’s monster scoring performance and Kobe exiting his last Olympic Games on top. What you might have overlooked was the nucleus of the team whose play during the tournament should not be discounted.

The excitement of playing in the Olympics seems to have a carry-over effect with the following NBA season. Playing with the best players in the world looks to help players prepare better than pick-up games and summer leagues back in the States. Theories have been documented that playing in the Olympics has helped fuel players in their next NBA season. Kobe Bryant won an NBA title, and an NBA Finals MVP award, after the 2008 Olympics. The same happened for Michael Jordan and the Bulls following the appearance of the Dream Team in 1992. The rest of the offseason will now be spent determining who will use the Olympic experience to shine in the Association this year.

Team USA’s three-headed monster of LeBron, Durant and Kobe will be obvious front runners. LeBron proved he is the best player in the world, Durant can drain shots from every spot on the floor in any country and Kobe still has that killer instinct that paralyzes opponents. They all are expected to explode in the NBA this season.

Organizing the gold-medal winners was Chris Paul; you know, that guy who made sure LeBron, Durant and Kobe had the ball where they needed to so they could put up those great performances. Paul may have flown under the radar, but was not unnoticed. Paul quietly became one of the most important pieces for the squad, coming up big when his team needed it most. The best example came when you might expect it, with 50 seconds remaining in the gold-medal game against Spain. After crossing-over a defender, Paul flipped in a layup just before the shot clock expired, all while the U.S. clung to a lead in the final minute of the game. The play was a dagger into Spain’s back that made Coach K jump in excitement — something Mike Krzyzewski rarely does — and epitomized Paul’s role and worth to the team.

Paul scored 11 points, dished out two assists and added three steals in the gold-medal game, which are numbers that won’t make your jaw drop to the floor. But sometimes what you see when watching the game doesn’t show up on the stat line. Paul made big plays at big moments throughout the Olympics, but also knew how to best use the Goliaths of basketball playing with him in USA jerseys. His 11 points came on only nine shots, meaning Paul was two things you love to see in true point guards. He was consistent and effective, taking good shots when he had them and making plays for his teammates when he didn’t. Paul didn’t need to score 25 points per game for Team USA to sweep the competition, and his understanding of his role and how to play within that role made that team better.

So while Durant and LeBron will come back to their respective teams and light up the competition, don’t be surprised if you see great play out of Chris Paul this NBA season. The transition period should be complete after a full season with the Clippers, and Paul will look to make the same type of plays with high-flyer Blake Griffin as he did with his Olympic teammates.

Don’t let the stats fool you. Paul may not lead the league in scoring, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of his performance. The rewards he is reaping from a successful stint as Team USA’s floor general can only be a positive when he returns to Los Angeles. Paul will have more confidence, experience and a better understanding of how his international counterparts in the NBA play the game.

It’s amazing what a little gold can do for a player’s motivation.


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What to Make of Dwight Howard as a Laker

Dwight Howard's not sure why you're so upset. (icareitmatters.com)

There's no reason to like him.

Dwight Howard is personable in public, likes to crack wise, and, hell, he even recorded a Kidz Bop album (quality not to be mentioned) in an attempt to endear himself to fans. He is can be a good sport and sells it all with a charming smile.

Howard damaged his public image, though, as he snaked his way out of Orlando and the extension he chose to sign that would have kept him as the Magic's centerpiece for the 2012-13 season. Maybe, to the casual fan, that's no big deal. But NBA diehards will not — should not — forget Howard's actions.

Howard tried to preserve his reputation by stating publicly his intention to stay with the organization that drafted him in 2004. Amidst rumors that Stan Van Gundy could be a victim of the Dwightmare, Howard put on a fabricated front. All was naught, because word leaked that, despite signing the extension, behind closed doors Howard still desired a trade.

He may redeem himself in time. Lakers fans will love him as soon as his first promotional photos are released, if they aren't already fawning.

As they should. No matter your take on Howard's tactics leading to the massive four-team trade which landed him in Los Angeles — and, including draft picks, shuffled more than 12 players around the league — he made the right choice. That statement does not need to appear in bold font because it should not shock anyone.

Few places can offer the talent that will surround Howard as the yellow-clad team of Staples Center. Remember, the Lakers were Howard's original team of choice before being swayed by the Brooklyn Nets. Howard has wanted to be part of a superstar cast rather than be a roster's headliner since the beginning of this messy saga.

The Orlando front office simply wasn't getting it done. Gilbert Arenas is not Kobe Bryant. As strong as he came on last season, Ryan Anderson is not Pau Gasol. For what he can do, Jameer Nelson is light-years away from being Steve Nash.

If he wants a ring sooner than later, Howard did the right thing. If he wants a bigger or longer contract in a place of his own choosing, Howard has the right to explore free agency next summer. The trade was, ultimately, a business decision made by the Magic. They forsook better offers from Brooklyn and the Houston Rockets, and were forced to settle for less.

Dealing Howard before seeing him on the court again was right for multiple reasons (locker room presence, the aftermath of back surgery, et al.). The Orlando front office is right for having done it. And for all the hemming and hawing, Howard is right purely on a basketball level for having forced the Magic's hand.

Assuming he wants to win now, Howard has improved his place in the NBA, even if he unmasked himself in the process.


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