NOTE: This blog has absolutely nothing to do with Kobe Bryant, other than it's relation to NBA basketball. I just figured to get more people to read I'd put the title in KOBE TAGS!
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 7 times already this year. John McCain has appeared twice.
So who's BETTER? It's a popularity contest. And the media is trying to make up your mind for you. The enormous exposure directed at Barack Obama makes him overrated. John McCain is underrated, underexposed. Based on experience you can argue that McCain is more qualified, but since neither has assumed the Presidency yet, you cannot objectively argue which man is the better president - because neither has served in that office yet. Really, either one could be the better man for the job, but the media has turned America into Obama's world - and we just pay the taxes.
This happens in sports on a consistant basis. What do sports and politics have in common? They are the preferred topic of conversation among most men - whether in the living room, at the bar, after church, on the internet, during lunch-break, or at the stadium - guys talk about sports and politics. (And sometimes women)
The difference between sports and politics is that most sports, especially professional sports, are documented, researched, videotaped, broadcasted, and analyzed. Yes, the same can be said for politics, but who has higher ratings CSPAN, or ESPN? Politics is largely the business of rhetoric and ####, rarely do voters, the people who decide the outcome of the question: "Who is the best?", concentrate on the voting records, budget appropriations, or bill sponsporships, but rather WHO SAID WHAT SHOCKING THING or WHO IS INVOLVED IN WHAT SCANDAL, or WHAT PARTY DOES SAID PERSON BELONG?
As a fan of sports and politics, I find it enormously problematic that the media creates a reputation for someone and that is often the bottom line at the end of the day when discussing such topics - and in the case of many people, that reputation is wrong. I cannot think of a more perfect example of erroneous reputation than that of Jason Kidd. And it's not like it was just fans spouting off in blogs that have been wrongly convinced that Jason Kidd was a championship-caliber point guard - LeBron James practically demanded that Cavalier GM Danny Ferry pursue Jason Kidd, while Maverick GM Mark Cuban traded away his best perimeter defender in Devin Harris.
To quote a respected NBA scout and statistican, "The All-Defense team is voted on reputation as much as performance, which is why Jason Kidd and Kirk Hinrich made the team while Devin Harris got only six votes. But if you think Harris wasn't at least the equal of those two defensively, I've got some land to sell you in Atlantis."
Interestingly, this report was made BEFORE the beginning of the 07-08 NBA season, and long before the Harris for Kidd trade. Harris was rated the best defensive point guard in the NBA by 82games.com for the 06-07 season. Anyone who watched the Mavericks in the 08 playoffs can recall Jason Kidd getting uterrly eviscerated by Chris Paul while shooting an anemic 42% from the field - good for less than 9 ppg. Reputation exceeded performance, and the Mavericks paid the price.
So let's do a little exercise. I'm going to post the resumes of two well-known basketball players. I won't use the most obvious statistics or awards, but most of you will be able to decipher the exhibits of this exercise with a simple google search. Both players have connections to European Basketball and competed at the NBA level and both were voted onto the All-NBA Third Team. Both players participated in All-Star Weekend. Athlete A is 1 year older than Athlete B. Both players played basketball in the 90s. Both players were listed the same size and stature. Both players competed for and won NBA championships.
Defensively, player A was ranked by statisticians as 7th among SG during his 4th year in the NBA and 3rd among all NBA players in his 5th year in the league. He led the NBA in steals/gm at least once in his career. However, he was never considered the best defensive player on his team. Player B was the best defensive player on his team.
Defensive composite stats and +/- are not widely recognized in most baskeball discussion but provide a much better indicator of defensive performance over just steals and blocks. Just ask Dwyane Wade.
(All statistics compiled by Tsunami and retrieved from box score listings found at basketball-reference.com)
*Statistics are mostly given in Per 36 minutes format in an attempt to compare more equally, although it should be know than player B averaged more minutes per game than player A for their careers. I did not adjust for pace of play, as this would have practically turned this 4 hour project into a thesis.
**I was unable to find any composite FINALS only statistics so I looked through each and every box score. If anyone would like a copy of the spreadsheet, I will gladly email it upon request.
Athlete A - Position, SG/SF
Athlete B - Position, SG/SF
Production
Career Regular Season Averages:
A True Shooting Percentage: 59%
B True Shooting Percentage: 56%
A Points/36 Minutes: 19.0
B Points/36 Minutes: 24.7
A Assists/36 Minutes: 4.6
B Assists/36 Minutes: 4.6
A Rebounds/36 Minutes: 5.2
B Rebounds/36 Minutes: 5.2
A Steals/36 Minutes: 2.0
B Steals/36 Minutes 1.5
A 3PFG%: 38.2%
B 3PFG%: 34.0%
A FT%: 82%
B FT%: 84%
A Avg Team Wins 59 out of 82
B Avg Team Wins 53 out of 82
Career Playoff Averages
A Field Goal Percentage: 43%
B Field Goal Percentage: 44%
A 3PFG%: 38%
B 3PFG%: 33%
A Points/36 Minutes: 18.70
B Points/36 Minutes: 22.37
A Assists/36 Minutes: 4.1
B Assists/36 Minutes: 4.2
A Rebounds/36 Minutes: 5.6
B Rebounds/36 Minutes: 4.6
A Steals/GM: 1.38
B Steals/GM: 1.38
Career NBA Finals Averages
A Field Goal Percentage: 42%
B Field Goal Percentage: 41%
A Points/36 Minutes: 17
B Points/36 Minutes: 20
A Rebounds/36 Minutes: 6.1
B Rebounds/36 Minutes: 4.4
A Assists/36 Minutes: 3.3
B Assists/36 Minutes: 4.3
A Steals/36 Minutes: 1.8
B Steals/36 Minutes: 1.5
A Finals Winning Percentage: 71%
B Finals Winning Percentage 58%
A NBA Finals Sucess: 3 Rings
B NBA Finals Rings: 3 Rings
Ok, so a few of you may have guessed who the exhibits are because you were a fan of one or both of them. A few of you may have punched in a few numbers or logged onto basketball-reference.com to find the answers. But for the ones who haven't read ahead and want to continue the exercise, here we go.
It should be very clear based on these statistics that both players left their mark on the NBA. It should also be very clear the both players are very similar. Not only in size, position, and in sucess at the highest level, but in almost every statistical category. Player A is a slighty more efficient scorer and seems to be more of an energy player with slightly higher steals and rebounds, while player B is a more prolific scorer with assists that indicate strong playmaking skills, especially in the NBA Finals. However, neither player was ever voted the NBA Finals MVP.
Now, we've hung around in the realm of the objective long enough. Let's head over into that world where it seems everybody else lives. (Everyone except you, my readers, of course.)
Subjective Awards - By nature, some awards are based on statistics: (ie The Scoring Title) and some are based on votes: (ie reputation)
A NBA All-Star Selections: 1
B NBA All-Star Selections: 10
A NBA All 1st Team Selections: 0
B NBA All 1st Team Selections: 6
A Average Salary: 53% of Player B's Salary
B Average Salary: 1.8x Player A's Salary
A Jersey Sales in USA (highest ranking during career): 17th in NBA
B Jersey Sales in USA (highest ranking during career): 1st in NBA
A All-NBA Defensive Awards: 0
B All-NBA Defensive Awards: 8
A Google Hits (Name): 1,160,000
B Google Hits (Name): 9,130,000
C Google Hits (Jordan): 14,000,000
YIKES! What happened? It seems fairly obvious that player B is recognized as a Grade-A superstar and player A is lucky to have even been voted to an All-Star Game.
But how can this be? Charles Barkley is thinking "AWR YOU SUUURIOUS? Thet's TUURRIBULL"
How can two players, the same size, same age, who play the same position, who have very similar statistics when adjusted per minute (although not adjusted for pace, player B's team played at a faster pace every season) who have both had seemingly equal sucess at the highest level be on two completely different PLANES OF EXISTENCE in the subjective arena? Especially considering that where Defensive stats are available, although hardly every recognized, player A is rated higher than player B.
Doesn't quite seem fair does it?
Both players have very impressive resumes, yet only one seems to be raking in all the awards, not to mention dollars.
Without digressing too much more, if you can READ WORDS, you can recognize that player A is underrated by those that RATE and player B is likewise overrated. Does this mean player A is a BETTER all-around player than player B? Hardly. Everyone knows that team sports are thousands of times more complex than sports like golf or tennis where it is much easier to rank players against each other.
But suffice to say, player A seems to produce on the same plane as player B and as I said before, is not even in the same SPACE-TIME-CONTINUUM as player B in the realm of subjective rankings.
The sad part about all this is that I'm not even going to TRY to mention degrees of difference between player A's media exposure during his tenure and player B's - it's exponentially more skewed than the awards listed above. Whether it be endorsements, headlines, news stories, or ESPN talking points - player A was virtually non-existant next to player B.
A sign of a poor writer (but a good lawyer) is someone who can anticipate objections from his readers / courtroom thereby proceeding to silence arguments by pre-emptively attacking them. ---> I know what some of you are thinking, and NO, this article does not make me a "hater". (Threat Neutralized.) Demonizing someone that has presented objective evidence is neither honorable nor conducive to further debate. There are PLENTY of holes in the above piece, and I hope that my fellow members of FoxSports will at least attempt to debate facts with facts - although the chances of that happening are about as likely as Barkley winning a long drive contest, or the MSM demonizing Obama.
LeBron's dunk over Garnett was unbelievable. The crowd at the Q was just waiting to explode. Looking for ANYTHING to go nuts about. I mean LeBron could have just made a jumper. But he did THAT!
I'm going to make a poster out of that dunk.
I had to turn off the uninspiring post-game show.
Charles Barkley was just lamenting that neither team gets easy baskets.
Then he said the Celtics aren't a good defensive team.
Or, NICE TO SEE SOME TEAMS THAT ACTUALLY PLAY DEFENSE. TAKE NOTES GOLDEN STATE, WASHINGTON, AND TORONTO
The Cavs outplayed the Celtics the entire game, and earned a much-deserved win by playing excellent defense, and making just enough plays to get the W. LeBron James' shooting percentage is still down, but I think credit really needs to be given to to the Celtics Defense. Twice LeBron had open looks for 3 and he hit both of them. The Celtics are a VERY GOOD defensive team and everytime the shot clock winds down, the Cavs pass it to LeBron and look for him to bail them out. Whether it's Posey or Pierce it seems they are instinctive of this and put enough of a body on LeBron to make him fade away and throw off his balance. In the 2nd half he didn't want to get called for anymore charges (from the ref 30 feet away from the play) so he basically hoisted up a bunch of fade-away 3s as the clock was ticking down on the Cavs bad possessions. He said after the game that he and the coaching staff just decided he needs to shoot himself out of the slump. I think he needs to spend more time crashing the boards. He LIVES outside the 3 point line, and as the most athletic player in the NBA, he should not be doing this. I go crazy when LeBron is just sitting there while other guys are shooting. I don't know if the he is trying to conserve energy, or if the coaches want him to be back on D, but it seems like if he picked his spots, he could crash the boards a lot.
The media coverage of the Cavs is simply pathetic - it always has been. I give lots of credit to the TNT announcers - Doug Collins and Kevin Harlen always do a great job. Other than that, it's the same old story. Cavs win = Other Team Lost. LeBron's struggles are highlighted night in and night out.
In this game, he had 13 assists, a few steals, a few blocks, and he has played outstanding D on Pierce this entire series. He was 7-20 and still clearly the best player on the court. Plus he threw down a dunk only HE could throw down.
His shot selection could be better, but the Celtics defenders are doing a great job of keeping him off balance, and out of rhythm.
As far as the Cavs role players - it is really encouraging to see Boobie Gibson healthy again. He is confident driving, and even though the Celtics are chasing him off the 3 point arc, he is finding ways to score.
The Cavs are a good rebounding team. Even though they lost their best rebounder in the trade (Gooden) they really got a solid rebounder in Delonte West. He has a great nose for the ball and saves the Cavs a lot of possessions with his great leaping ability. He came up big again tonight even though it didn't show up in the box score.
When the role players play well, the Cavs ceiling is much higher than last year's team. Varejao finally played decent tonight. If he could get back to 2007 form I think the Cavs would be the undisputed team to beat in the East. This series feels somewhat similar to the series with the Pistons last year. Not quite the same, but that dunk on Garnett felt eerily similar in context to this dunk:
Once again the Cavs showed they cannot impose their will on a team. A few times I thought they could have broken the game open, but they didn't. Part of the problem was in the 2nd quarter, the refs were calling HAND CHECK FOULS AWAY FROM THE BALL and the Celtics got into the bonus early - allowing them to slow the game down and stay close. Then when LeBron got his 3rd foul, they went on an 8-0 run. Also, RayRay finally hit a few shots. But the Cavs really just played better the whole game, and finally had something to show for it in the final 3 minutes. Some nifty passing by the Cavs. I haven't really seen that at ALL since the trade. So maybe these guys are getting more familiar with where they are in space.
Ben Wallace had a few nice touch passes, LeBron found Joe Smith with a sweet no look dump off in traffic, and Joe Smith found a cutting Varejao for a bucket late. Cavs really need to play well in game 5. They don't necessarily have to win. But they have to believe that they can beat Boston on the home court. The Cavs don't believe Boston can beat them on their court. But Boston has the home court advantage. I don't think the Cavs will need a miracle from James in game 5 like last year against the Pistons - but he is going to have to limit turnovers and find other guys for some big shots if the Cavs want to win.
Kobe Bryant is unstoppable right now and is playing perfectly within the flow of the offense. He and Chris Paul have been the MVPs of the playoffs thus far. And not the ghey version with all it's spin. Kobe has BEEN THE BEST PLAYER ON THE COURT EVERY NIGHT AND HIS TEAM HAS NOT LOST YET.
That being said, the Playoffs are not the regular season and the MVP award goes to regular season. The regular season is all 82 games not just the games after a team swaps a bottom 5 center for a top 5 center.
Kobe won the MVP. Based on the criteria that the MVP goes to the most popular player on the best team - he is WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT the most popular player (and best player) on the 2nd best regular season team and so far (CLEARLY) the best post-season team.
I have nothing against the Lakers. I actually think the players are very classy and play very good team ball.
I have nothing personally against Kobe.
I have EVERYTHING against hyper-ventilating REVISIONIST HISTORY KOBE FANS, and the MEDIA MEMBERS THAT MOTIVATE THEM! LeBron James just compiled a historic season individually. He was only the 3rd player in the history of the NBA to average 30 7 and 7 and he did it on a team that was no where near the top in offensive efficiency.
He eviscerated the myth that he isn't clutch by leading the Cavaliers to an astounding number of 4th quarter comeback wins, and he also shed the myth that he doesn't play defense - at least to those who cared enough to watch him.
What's funny is that Kobe fans still harp on this "common knowledge" idea that LeBron is an inferior defender to Kobe when I guarantee the only games they certainly watched were the Cavs/ Lakers games where LeBron checked Kobe MORE often than Kobe checked LeBron and shut him down when he did. Here's my point, plain and simple.
If the general consensus is that winning the MVP is about getting your team to win games, then Kobe or Chris Paul or Kevin Garnett deserves the nod above LeBron because their teams won more games. I don't agree with that criteria but if that IS the criteria, then Kobe deserved it.
But out of ALL THE WRITERS, LeBron only received ONE first place vote!ONE. The best season statistically out of all the candidates, on a team that dealt with FAR more unsettling personnel circumstances than the other two and he only gets ONE vote.
I mean, I didn't expect him to win it after it was clear the Cavs wouldn't win 50 games and I had to change my avatar, but ONLY ONE?!
Ok, that gets me fired up enough. (thankfully at least the Czar, Mike Fratello, shared my sentiments) So today, the ALL NBA First team awards came out.
The headline was that Kobe Bryant was unanimously chosen at one of the guard positions. Fine, I can't think of TWO guards who are better players. In my mind, it could not possibly be more obvious that Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant were the two best guards in the NBA this year.
How the HELL was LeBron James not UNANIMOUSLY chosen as a Forward?
How do you go out and average 30 8 and 7 on a slow paced team, lead the league (by far) in "clutch-performances" as denoted by 82games.com, win the All-Star game MVP, completely dominate FIBA play, and NOT be considered 1st Team All NBA?
WHICH WRITERS DECIDED THAT THERE WERE 2 FORWARDS MORE WORTHY THAN LEBRON?!
Sure, I can see some homer from Boston who genuinely thinks Kevin Garnett is more important than LeBron James. But BETTER than LeBron James? No.
And who the #### is the other guy? Nowitzki? Duncan?
Duncan's a center, so it shouldn't apply, but people keep insisting he is a power foward. After he hit that 3 against Phoenix I suppose he's a shooting guard now too. Regardless is Duncan REALLY a better player than James? Or at the very least, did he REALLY play better this season?!
Is Nowitzki a better player? Did he play better this season?
NO and NO.
Statistically they all had inferior seasons.
LeBron James has been called under-rated. Here's what he ACTUALLY is: UNDER-FREAKING-APPRECIATED.
30 8 and 7 is not just another baller. At 23 years old he's a once-a-generation talent. He's the best player in the GAME and had the best season of anyone this year. He does at least one thing every night, whether it's a drive, a pass, or a weak-side block that NO OTHER PLAYER CAN DO. In the words of Ronny Turiaf he's the fastest guy pound for pound in the game, not to mention the strongest, one of the smartest, the most athletic, and one of the best leaders.
Even if you don't buy any of what I just said, there is NO WAY you could make a case that he is not one of the best FORWARDS in the NBA.
Is it because he plays in Cleveland?
Seriously what is it. The guy gets called LeBronze, LeBrick, over-rated, over-hyped, a crybaby.
Does anyone outside of Cleveland actually appreciate the things LeBron James DOES?!
Unbelievable that there are media people that don't believe he was one of the best two forwards in the NBA this year. Simply unbelievable.
Random thoughts and analysis on tonight's annihilation of the Trash-Talking Wizards: Analysis:
The Wizards decided to double and triple LeBron every time he got the ball. They made it clear he would have no easy layups. He got fouled hard early and often. Two years ago the Wizards employed this same tactic in game 2 and it rattled LeBron. The Cavs lost that game before regrouping. Tonight? Only fired up the Cavs more.
LeBron got his usual efficient 30, but what impressed me the most was his activity. He had two MONSTER blocks which lead to break outs, and ended up with a Chris Paul-like 12 assists and only 1 turnover. He was a rebound shy of a triple double.
This game has the potential, in my opinion, to re-define the Cavaliers. Their season, for the most part, showed regression and under achievement. More than anything, the Cavaliers have been offensively inefficient, have been passive on defense, and have had a COMPLETE INABILITY TO IMPOSE THEIR WILL on opposing teams. Tonight they excelled in all of these things. Their defensive intensity was strong the entire game. The Wizards were overplaying on defense, double and triple teaming the ball immediately, and trying to send a message with hard fouls. The Cavs responded by pushing right back, making the extra pass on offense, and matching aggression with aggression.
Almost the entire Cavalier roster regressed this season - LeBron and Z being the exceptions. Much of this can be attributed to a plague of injuries and myriad Mike Brown rotations. The Cavs only seem in sync for about a month this season. Upon returning from injury, Boobie Gibson's shot has been horrible. Anderson Varejao looks as if he's wearing lead shoes, and Sasha Pavlovic couldn't get into any rhythm. Adding insult to injury was the new players acquired in the trade laying an egg: Delonte West has played consistently above average, but Ben Wallace has been utterly ineffective and Wally, the guy brought in to hit open jumpers, has built himself a house bigger than LeBron's with all his wide open bricks.
But tonight, the Cavs team I envisioned following the trade, showed up - and it was glorious.
Wally nailed 6 of 9 shots, including 2 threes. Boobie Gibson was flat out on fire in the 3rd quarter and finished 4-8 with 2 threes. Big Z is the guy that slows down the tempo and stabilizes the game with his tip ins and mid-range pops. He did that very well tonight. Varejao, Wallace, and Joe Smith, while starting slow, got very physical midway through the 2nd quarter, and I believe it was really this energy that the Cavs used to finally, FINALLY, impose their will on an opponent.
All in all, there is a lot to be said about this game, but this is the Cavs team that I envisioned. Z anchoring the post offense, LeBron aggressively finding holes but not forcing the issue, and finding his teammates spotted up for J's. Tonight, the Cavs hit the open shot, and they won by 30. Random Thoughts:
1.)I was shocked that Reggie Miller likened the foul on a driving Antonio Daniels to the two-handed shove from Brendan Haywood on LeBron James. First of all, upon replay, the foul on Daniels showed that the Cavaliers in fact tried to block the shot, but got there late. Daniels weighs what, a buck ninety? LeBron is 260. LeBron's got shoved hard in the side while at the apex of his jump. This caused him to completely lose body control midair, and sent him flying to the deck, drawing blood. Anytime a player is intentionally pushed while in mid-air in this way it leaves that player open to all kinds of injuries. Daniels got fouled no harder than any guard going in for a layup, he's just very light so when he gets bumped it looks worse than it is. It was obviously the right call by the officials: 2-shot foul. Reggie digressed into talk about the "good ol days" when he played and the foul Haywood gave to LeBron was just a hard playoff foul. You could tell Marv Albert thought he was full of #### Obviously he didn't go for the ball, and the fact that he was able to send LeBron's 260 pound frame turning in the air towards the deck shows how hard he pushed him. I fully expect Anderson Vajejao or Ben Wallace to return the favor to Haywood in game 3 (or 4 if he is suspended)
2.) I'd like to take this opportunity for a rare pat on the back. Back when famous (or infamous) FoxSports blogger Hoffman triumphantly declared the he liked how DeShawn Stevenson's attitude was a sign that he was a strong-willed player that wouldn't back down, I told Hoffman that NO, it's a sign that he's just an #### who blows at basketball and doesn't know how to control his mouth, nothing more. Well Soulja Boy proved me right again. I almost felt bad for the guy in the 3rd quarter when he FINALLY hit a 3 and with his team down 20+ he did his patented "you-can't-see-me" face wave in front of his face. Marv and Reggie couldn't believe it, and made a big showing of how bush-league it was. Reggie later said if Stevenson did the wave again he would walk out of 'the Q' in disgust. Immediately LeBron marched right down the court and hit a 3 in his face. This really led to a bizarre sequence, as the crowd got fired up and incredibly, Stevenson JACKED UP another long shot. With his team down 20+, he was apparently going to take over the game by himself. Instead, he got his team all out of sync, and the Cavs never looked back. Honestly I couldn't believe that Eddie Jordan didn't bench him after that. Lost some respect for Jordan there. In case anyone was still wondering, DeShawn Stevenson SUCKS. As a Cavs fan, my heart dances happily every time he launches an outside shot. Hoffman, do you STILL like what you see from Stevenson? You said you hate how teams roll out the red carpet for LeBron. Well, we're two games in, LeBron has been forcibly sent to the deck time and time again, and he's putting up MONSTER NUMBERS in playoff games. I'd love to hear what you have to say now.
3.) This is the Cavs team I envisioned. Boobie being the Boobie of last year's playoffs and this year before the injury. Wally World hitting open jumpers. Ben Wallace blocking shots and providing some mental toughness. Anderson Varejao getting under the opponents skin with hustle, hard fouls, and extra possesions. Delonte West providing full-court pressure, getting his hand on balls, and setting up the offense. LeBron dominating as usual. THIS IS THE CAVS TEAM I ENVISIONED. Mike Brown making good adjustments, like the one he did in this game to put LeBron on Arenas(2-10 3 TOs) early and to exploit the Wizards on defense with Big Z(7-11) when Haywood was out. Throw in a deep bench with true professionals Devin Brown, Joe Smith, and Damon Jones who are always ready to go at a moments notice, and you have a great, not good, GREAT team.
3.) I felt slightly compensated for all the negativity surrounding the Cavs and Cleveland in general from this game. This turned into, as Bill Simmons candidly describes, an ####-YOU game. Between LeBron swishing the three in Stevenson's eye and Damon Jones mocking Stevenson's hand-wave late in the game after drilling a triple (LeBron could be seen laughing on the bench while Arenas looked like a 5 year old who's Mom took away his candy) I felt like the Cavs took their aggression out on the Wizards and likewise all my aggression towards Cavs haters are now gone. In one big ####-YOU, we've proved our point.
4.) I was talking to X23 tonight and he pointed out that we very well might look back on this series and THANK the Washington Wizards for lighting a fire under the Cavs #### with their ridiculous comments. Obviously, the Cavs have proven to be incredibly inconsistent this year, and they are still dealing with daily changes to the rotations and injuries, but to a man, this team could be VERY VERY GOOD, either this post-season or the next. But mentally, they have been unable to impose their will on anyone, until tonight. This could be the start of something special for this new-look Cavalier team.
5.) LeBron faked a reverse windmill dunk following a whistle. In other words, he went up like he was going to tear the rim off, and then suddenly stopped and handed the ball to the official. LeBron's FAKE DUNKS look better than 99% of the NBA's actual dunks. It's not even close.
6.) Keeping with the topic of LeBron and dunks, if you can find the clip, watch the dunk LeBron does in the first half when he splits two defenders and throws it down with authority. Watch it in slow motion, you will see LeBron take contact as contorts his body to split the defenders, then duck underneath an outstretched arm then rise up and throw it down hard. In real time it looks so smooth and easy, until you realize all the things he's actually doing to make that play. Reggie Miller commented on how the Wizards game play was supposed to be no easy layups. Well, they TRIED to foul him, but he was too strong, too fast, and too agile to be denied. The same thing can be said for his driving shots against the Pistons in Game 5 of last year's ECFinals. On a lot of those plays, the Pistons were all over him, but he's so strong, so fast, and so agile that they couldn't. No one ROLLS OUT THE RED CARPET for LeBron. HE STAPLES IT THE FLOOR AND TAKES OFF.
7.) I feel like a ####-bag for going on record saying I thought the Cavs might lose to the Wizards. I had no faith in the team. I'm a Cleveland Fan, I've been through more pain the rest of you combined, but I'm not going to let that destroy my fandom. Cavs vs. Jazz in the Finals. If they fall, I guess I'll just have to live with the trash talking. But as far as I can tell, no one can stop LeBron, NO ONE. And if the supporting cast plays like they did tonight, no one can stop the Cavs, NO ONE.
8.) Is Soulja Boy still coming to game 3? Is Stevenson going to continue to throw gasoline on the fire he made? Is he the dumbest player in the history of the NBA? Is the Wizards Fan base the most pathetic in the history of professional sports for having his back through all this?? Is Hoffman the dumbest blogger in the history of FoxSports for believing Stevenson to be ANYTHING more than an ####-Clown wannabe that occasionally plays good defense? Obviously, questions remain. Stay tuned.
In 5 playoff games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, DeShawn Stevenson is now 10 for 55 -18%.
Much has been made about his "overrated" comment earlier in the season.
Hoffman loved the comment. According to him, this was Stevenson and the Wizards "not backing down". Yeah, whatever.
Here's the reality of the situation. "The Wizards are the dumbest team in the history of civilization."
I blame Gilbert Arenas. Or maybe I should say I THANK Gilbert. He can flat out play, but he's such a knucklehead. He gets the whole team sans Jamison playing with this arrogance and sense of entitlement.
Seriously, can you imagine the team that has lost 7 straight playoff games and lost a regular season game by like 50 to a certain team talking TRASH about that team?!? Shouldn't it be the other way around? The Cavs are a HORRIBLE team right now. Many people use the post-trade inadequacies as some sort of evidence that they were right all along about the Cavs not deserving to be in the Finals last year. I think you're all just making excuses. The Cavs were a top 3 team in defense and rebounding last year. This year they are a middle of the pack defensive team, and to a man, most of them have regressed in terms of production. I can point to injuries, contract holdouts etc, but then again, maybe I'm just making excuses.
Regardless, the Wizards should SWEEP the Cavaliers giving all the talk they're doing. And yet, up 2 late in the 4th quarter, they couldn't stop LeBron James - and Gilbert Arenas threw up brick after brick down the stretch. Almost every analyst I've read has picked the Wizards to beat the Cavs. The Wizards are the FAVORITES in this series, and they already blew game 1.
All the trash talking and drama makes for good entertainment. I suppose it pleases the weak fans of the NBA. But as a hardcore fan, I think I speak for all of us when I say: "Shut up and play." Or at least, "Win a GAME, before you start talking trash."
Take an example from the Cavs and from LeBron. They often talk about how they were the inferior team in last year's finals and they got outplayed by a better team. All you hear from the Wizards and from their fan base is the same old garbage: "LeBron Traveled", "They'd never beat us if Arenas and Butler were healthy". "LeBron is overrated." "They don't have the best finisher in the game."
Lots of talk - NOTHING to back it up. In case anyone wants to know the origins of all the trash talk, here is my best recap.
Neither of these teams have ever liked each other. There has been plenty of back and forth behind the scenes for the last 3 years. As far as the stuff that made it to a camera or mic:
Earlier in the season, the Cavs SMOKED the Wizards. Damon Jones is a cocky player by nature and held a 3 point pose a few times in the game after stroking 3s in garbage time.
Later in the season, the Cavs signed 2 D-league players for a game against the Wizards. It seemed impossible for the Cavs to beat the Wiz given the lack of players, yet they won the game, and celebrated like it was a playoff game as the whistle sounded.
Apparently, LeBron had made a comment to Drew Gooden about DeShawn Stevenson sometime before the trade. No one knows exactly what it was about. LeBron said it was about his game and about the Wizards, nothing about his family or anything personal. DeShawn hasn't shed any light on the content of what was said. My guess is LeBron said DeShawn has a tiny #### and DeShawn doesn't want to bring that into the national spotlight.
At any rate, during a game in Washington on March 13, Damon Jones started making fun of DeShawn Stevenson's hand-wave-in-front-of-the-face thing he does when he makes a 3. Later, after DeShawn made a 3 he mocked Damon Jones' hand-on-a-platter-thing he does after making threes. The game ended with LeBron missing a 3 at the buzzer with Stevenson in his grill. After the game, Stevenson told the media that LeBron was overrated and wanted to make sure the media attributed it to him.
In an attempt to boost readership I'm going to try to keep this short.
First, Kobe Bryant is going to win the MVP award, that's been obvious to me since the Gasol trade. The Lakers have the best team on paper and Kobe is the best player on that team, and media types have this guilt complex over him not winning it in the past. It's ironic that in the year when Dirk Nowitzki had the best regular season production and thus won the MVP he laid an egg in the first round of the playoffs and was immediately criticized as not being MVP worthy. I say ironic because for fans the MVP has transformed into this validation of a player being the best in the NBA even though that's not what the award SHOULD mean. It's even more ironic when you consider that the voters almost always give the award to the most popular players on the most popular teams. Surely, Suns fan believed that they had the best player in the NBA for two seasons even though there were a handful of players that contributed more to their teams than Steve Nash. But, Steve Nash was the most popular player on the most exciting team. Consider the Rookie of the Year award. Kevin Durant has produced the most for his team, but Luis Scola is a major contributor on a playoff team. Fortunately, the ROTY doesn't have this ridiculous framework around it. It's just the guy producing the most. It's not even the most popular player, think back to Okafor v. Howard? Well if you look at the stats that season you will notice they are comparable, but Okafor averaged about 3 more points per game. Howard was 19 and people were raving that he was the next Shaq - MUCH more publicity, yet Okafor produced slightly more individually and thus won the award.
Does anybody really think Tony Parker is the most Valuable Spur? Not many. Then how in the HECK did he win the 2007 Finals MVP? Oh, that's right, because he PRODUCED the most for the Spurs in that series - shredding Cleveland's defense over and over. The world didn't end when Tony Parker won the MVP award. People still consider Duncan and Ginobili the superstars of that team.
This brings me to the MVP award and how the arguments are being framed for Kobe.
First, a little background info: any candidate whose team does not win 50 games is immediately excluded from the club along with this worthless Moses Malone allusion. (I swear to God I've heard his name so much this year I'm starting to think he is still playing.) Apparently you could put up 40 10 and 8 and if your team does not win 50 games - nothing else matters. Here's the argument for Kobe in a nutshell:
Kobe Bryant was the most statistically dominating presence the last 5 some odd years but failed to win the MVP award because his team sucked. Now, his team is great, and even though his individual numbers are not the best in the league, it would be a crime to deny him the award since he was denied back when he DID have the most statistically dominating numbers in the NBA.
This argument was particularly strong when it was a two-horse race between LeBron and Kobe for much of the season(in spite of head to head match-ups) since LeBron '08 was seen as Kobe '06, and Kobe '08 seen as Nash '06.
This argument started looking a little weaker once Chris Paul's Hornets were a top the west and Paul's individual production was more than Kobe's. Now that the Lakers will finish a game or so ahead of the Hornets, Kobe is the most popular player on the most popular team - thus he will win the award by a mile. Here's the problem with the arguments:
Kobe Bryant was NOT the most statistically dominating presence the last 5 some odd years. In 2006 Dirk Nowitzki, and LeBron James had a higher PER than Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade was not far behind. I know every single Kobe fan out there balks at the PER stat, but let's get one thing clear - while PER doesn't indicate best player by any means, it does indicate most productive, and there's no way you can argue that a player DOMINATED his contemporaries if he's not even first in PER.
As a side note, all three of above mentioned players went farther in the playoffs than Kobe and DWade and Dirk were the best individual players in the NBA Finals that season.
Taking this argument further, Kobe has never had the most productive regular season in his career. Therefore, the argument that he so clearly deserved it in 2006 is false. He didn't SO CLEARLY deserve it. LeBron took an equally weak supporting cast to 50 wins. Ironically, Kobe still got a ton of votes (no one was making the Moses Malone argument against Kobe that year.) and split votes with LeBron James. Thus, Steve Nash came away with the award - which everyone can agree he certainly didn't deserve.
LeBron '08 is not Kobe '06. LeBron HAS BEEN the most productive player this season. He has statistically dominated everyone but Chris Paul this season, and is first in PER at over 30. If you leave Paul out of the equation, LeBron's production has been significantly more than Kobe's this season. As I've already pointed out, Kobe wasn't even the most productive player in '06 much less SIGNIFICANTLY ahead of his contemporaries, like LeBron is this season.
And for the sake of argument, Kobe '08 isn't Nash '06. Kobe's more productive, more worthy, the most popular player on the most popular team like Nash, but he's different. He is not the catalyst behind their team. He is the wingman in the triangle offense which features a dominant center, an athletic SF/PF combo, sharpshooters galore, and the winning-est coach in NBA history. Nash was the catalyst - Kobe is the strongest link in th echain. I'm not saying Nash is better or was more worthy - hell no. But it is worth pointing out that without Gasol and Bynum the Lakers a .500 Kobe led team. This is longer than I wanted it to be. For what it's worth, I will not be upset if Kobe wins the MVP. He is the most popular (and best) player on the best team - and that is what the award has come to signify by the voters.
However, the framework being used to justify his MVP is flawed.
Kobe Bryant is wildly popular and LOOKS the most like Michael Jordan in the eyes of fans. Because of this, everyone thinks it is an error of history that he has never won an MVP before. It's not. He's never been the most productive player for an 82 game season.
And I wonder what Tim Duncan thinks every-time some media type claims that "Kobe Bryant has been the best player in the game for a while now."
Today's (as if I've had others) comes from JA Adande's chat wrap on ESPN.com
Myth: LeBron James can't wait to leave Cleveland for NY, NJ, or pretty much anywhere but Cleveland.
Reality?
Jay (Adams, MA): BronBron would leave Cleveland to
play in New York because... well, it's New York and he's playing right
now in CLEVELAND. If BronBron's going to take his stardom to the next
level, he's got to get to a bigger market. I mean, the dude's famous
and all, but he's not MJ, he hasn't really crossed to that same extent.
J.A. Adande: (3:56 PM ET )
He's FROM Cleveland...I don't care if he wears a Yankee hat.
Cleveland's home. And the most outdated notion in the world is that a
player needs to be in a big market to be a star. You can get a
satelittle uplink or an internet connection anywhere. What NFL players
are bigger than Peyton Manning and Brett Favre? Where do (did) they
play? Green Bay and Wisconsin. LeBron's been on the cover of Fortune,
Vogue, etc. What more could he possibly do by playing in NY?
J.A. Adande: (3:57 PM ET )
and he hasn't hit MJ level because he hasn't won a championship. MJ
started his career in Chicago and did well his first 7 years, but it
went to a new level after he won the championship.
LeBron on whether he has ever thought about playing for the Knicks:
“No, that might be worse than that fan running out on the court.”
LeBron on whether he’s ever thought of leaving the Cavs: “You don’t
think about it, I am in a great situation. I am home, my family gets to
see me play, the organization has been nothing but great to me I have no
reason to think about going anywhere else at this point.”
I don't need to tell you that LeBron James scored 50 points on over 50% shooting tonight. I don't need to tell you that LeBron James had 10 assists and only 2 turnovers. I don't need to tell you LeBron had 8 rebounds and 4 steals. I don't need to tell you that, because you don't care. But here's what I will tell you. Last night, Kobe Bryant had a horrible 3 quarters of basketball. And then, he took over in the 4th quarter. It was a spectacular shooting spectacle for 12 minutes. Kobe brought his team back from a deficit and won the game. He dominated for 1 quarter and he made sure THAT EVERYONE KNEW IT. LeBron James says Kobe is the best player on the planet. You actually think he believes that? Kobe, try to act like YOU actually believe you are the best player. Act like you've won a regular season game and show some class on the road. Tonight, LeBron James took over for 4 quarters. He held Q Richardson to ZERO POINTS. He set up his teammates in the 1st quarter, dropping 5 dimes. He had 2 points after 1. He dominated the 2nd quarter, 3rd quarter, and 4th quarter, scoring 48 points in 3 quarters. Not only that, he did it in style. He hit an effortless half court shot at the halftime buzzer - FADING AWAY. He went 7 for 13 from 3 including an airball that got the MSG crowd more excited than at any previous point in the evening. And then he went 4 of 5 from three in the fourth turning a Knicks lead into a Cleveland blowout. And as he calmly sank each three, bringing Spike Lee and Jay-Z to their feet courtside, he calmly jogged back court and prepared for defense. He didn't pop his jersey 15 times. He didn't get into a screaming swearing match with fans - he actually had a fan run out onto the court at the end of the fourth towards the Cleveland bench. LeBron gave him a hug as police apprehended the man in the James jersey. He didn't stare down opposing players. And in the postgame interview, he said "We hit a lot of big shots in the 4th. March has been a good month for us in the past, so we want to keep getting wins." And when asked about scoring 50, he replied that he's just happy they got the win.
Oh, and how wonderful it must be for LeBron. He's in Jay-Z's 5, he gets MVP chants in NY, all while wearing the wine and gold.
The L-Train just being the L-Train: 44 min, 16-30 FG, 7-13 3pFG, 11-16 FT, 8 reb, 10 ast, 4 stl, 0 blk, 2 TURNOVERS, 50pts Just for more Kicks: When Spike Lee was jawwing at LeBron in the 4th and he had 37, LeBron mouthed "Fifty" to spike. Just saw it on ESPN. Mythical.
Let's start with the obvious, a line of predictable reasoning that
(for some reason) we need to be reminded of from time to time: Kobe Bryant is freakin' awesome.
He probably should have been the MVP in 2005-06, though Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James were all justifiable winners (I still can't believe Steve Nash,
my second favorite player since high school, won that thing). Bryant
shouldn't have been punished for having to do his damage on an
otherwise crummy team. Kobe faltered a bit last season, but you'd
probably lose your mind sharing a backcourt with Smush Parker or having to run screen-and-roll plays with Kwame Brown.
This
year, the man has been fantastic, running one of the NBA's most
devastating offenses while regaining the defensive edge that he
appeared to have lost last season. He put on a brilliant performance on
national TV yesterday, registering 52 points (30 in the fourth quarter
and overtime alone) and 11 rebounds while carrying the Lakers
offensively in a win over Dallas.
When Bryant went to the free throw line, the Staples Center crowd chanted, "M-V-P! M-V-P!"
And they should stop it.
Actually, they can chant whatever they want. Chant it for Sasha Vujacic,
see if he has a Slovenian sense of humor. My issue is in the incessant
(in El Lay and on the national airwaves) proclamations of Kobe Bryant
as the NBA's best player.
He isn't. Sorry, but he isn't. He's
awesome, but he's not the game's best player. He has the best chance of
any NBA talent at dropping 75 points on your ####, and that's
impressive, but Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Wade (when he's healthy) aren't far behind. And "best scorer" doesn't always mean "best player."
And, while we're at it, Kobe's not even the best scorer any more. James is.
And, in this case, "best scorer" means "best player."
And, to anyone who takes the game seriously, "best player" should mean "M-V-P!"
It's
not a huge edge, but it's decisive enough: James has Bryant licked in
scoring per game (30.3 to 28.2), assists (7.5 to 5.4), rebounds (8.1 to
6.0) and shooting percentage (48.6 to 46.6). Bryant shoots better from
long range (35 percent to 30), and has James' number from the line, but
so does Kyle Korver. Otherwise, they're even on steals and turnovers, and James blocks nearly twice as many shots.
James
may play two more minutes per game, but he still owns a decisive edge
in the per-minute numbers, and has to do his damage on a slow-down team
(20th in the NBA in possessions). Kobe has a chance to pad his stats
(not that he is, kindly read that carefully) with about five more
possessions per game on the Lakers. That's significant.
But
that's a mere nuance to national TV types and multi-sport columnists
who want to hand the mantle over to Kobe just because his team is
winning more. Bryant was working his tail off for years just trying to
get a sorry bunch of Lakers up around the .500 mark, and he shouldn't
be handed an MVP just because Andrew Bynum can ball now and the Grizzlies decided to hand the Lakers Pau Gasol.
Meanwhile,
James is just destroying people in Cleveland. Pulling in more rebounds
on a team that owns the boards even without him (there's not a lot of
stray rebounds to go around) and racking up assists on a team that
can't shoot straight (44.1 percent, 24th in the NBA).
His
defense isn't on par with Kobe's, but it's not far off, and it's still
pretty damn good. Certainly not bad enough for Bryant to overcome being
outscored, outassisted and outrebounded by LBJ. And while both are
studs in the clutch, LeBron is better. He significantly outscores,
outassists and outrebounds Kobe when it matters.
Worse, James
is going to get burned by voters who will credit him for MVPs likely
won from 2009-2019 and hand it to Kobe just because he's playing
"unselfish" basketball." No, Kobe's playing the same brand of
competitive basketball he always has, just for a championship-level
team. If he wasn't "selfish" in 2005-06 and 2006-07 then the Lakers win
30 games. Replacing a Chris Mihm with a Gasol shouldn't mean James should be denied.
It
stinks, but you watch the groundswell: The "best player in the game"
bit will start to become accepted as fact, and voters just make up
their mind based on what sounds right instead of doing their due
diligence. Then I'm stuck in the unenviable position of having to
denigrate one of the best players of my generation, if only to open
people's eyes in regards to the sort of -- MVP, mind you -- season
LeBron James is having.
I'm fed up. I got out of politics about a year ago because it is truly impossible to have meaningful debate. In spite of overwhelming statistical evidence, solid logic, etc...people can justify anything they want in this world, and it becomes 10,000x easier over the internet where accountability is zilch. It's the kind of depressing situation you would think COULDN'T exist in sports. Take the NBA, an arena where we have numbers and number crunchers that quantify almost every move a player makes. And for those cases where numbers really don't tell the whole story, we have 20,000 fans in an arena watching and TV networks/radio announcers broadcasting the show all over the world. So in the end, debate and argument about "who's the best?" in sports boils down to two separate but often intersecting planes: 1.) statistics and their analysis, and 2.) aesthetics that affect winning.
Examples of statistics include per game averages like points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, and fouls. Some statistics are percentage based, like field goal percentage, free throw percentage, three-point field goal percentage, or some form of composite like true-shooting percentage. We even have statistics that quantify the differences between players, such as on-court off-court differential, positional +/- (which assumes that the player checks the opposing players same position), player efficiency rating and roland rating - which are based on an average adjusted value of the league. There are even statisticians that generate composite stats for defense, and various situational stats, such as "crunch time" stats.
Aesthetics can be equally important, although sometimes uses too much because it's much easier to argue with aesthetics than numbers. Such things would include how a player perceivably makes his team better. Assists are one statistic that can quantify this point on offense but many other aesthetics can as well. Spacing the floor, setting picks, denying entry passes, help side rotation, pushing tempo for easy baskets, and boxing out (not necessarily rebounding) are all examples of positive actions a player can do and never get credit for it. Some people talk about the mental aspect of basketball and use phrases like "killer instinct" or "setting the tone" or "going for the jugular". This is just silly to me unless there is a direct action that DEMONSTRATES the overused phrase. Other aesthetics that fall into the mental side of the game are how often a player makes a momentum changing play. Hitting a 3 when a player's team is down by 20 isn't going to change momentum, but hitting a 3 when a team is down 2 changes the whole feel of the game, and the crowd. Straight box scores can't quantify this and really no one can quantify it's effect, simply use conjecture to guess its effect on the outcome.
Often in sports, people make inferences that have no real substance to back them up. In the case of "which player is the best" winning the game is often used as a bottom line, ignoring the fact most sports aren't golf or tennis and that players must thrive within a team framework to win, and that the outcome of the team is based on performance of THE TEAM, not an individual. In baseball this is a little easier to understand. A player could go 4/4 with 4 home runs and even foul off pitches just to make the pitcher tired, make diving plays in the field, and boost the confidence of his teammates along the way, and STILL be on the losing end o####ame. This sort of thing can happen in basketball too, although the game is so much more fluid so most people reject the notion that a player is the best if his team is losing. This would probably explain why almost no players on sub-50 win teams ever win the regular season most valuable player award. These inferences that have no real substance can go in another direction as well. Often, when a player misses games and his team loses, he is given credit for being more valuable. This notion is often made with no respect to who the backup of the missing player is and who the opposing team is, simply an "ah-ha!" statistic that is an attempt to solidify a bias.
Finally, in any debate, when you can't win using the proper tactics the best thing to do is change the meaning of question being debated. For example, Dirk Nowitzki was appropriately the MVP of the regular season in 2006-2007. However, after looking lost and falling in the first round of the playoffs, naysayers came out of the woodwork attacking his MVP credentials. Fortunately, Dirk won the award anyway. The MVP is an individual, regular season award. If you don't like individualism or regular season play, then this award means nothing. If you like TEAMWORK, in basketball, we have a Larry O'Brien trophy for the BEST TEAM based on a playoff series sample size. The best player on the best team during the best-of-seven NBA finals gets the "MVP" of the Finals. Last year, Tony Parker won the MVP of the Finals by shredding the Cleveland Cavalier defense. It's hard to say that Tony Parker is a better player than Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobili, but he deserved the award given it's intended meaning and scope. The MVP of the regular season should mean "The player who makes the most valuable contributions to his team during the 82 game regular season." That simple. It should not be "The best player in the NBA based on career achievements". This isn't 3rd grade t-ball where everyone gets a turn they just have to wait. If a rookie comes into the league and makes the "most valuable contributions to his team during the 82 game regular season" he should win the award. If a seasoned veteran who has never had the best individual regular season but has compiled a long career of 2nd or 3rd best, he should not win the award simply because "he is due".
If you've read this far, you know where this is going. It's unavoidable. The only reason I chose to write this today is because there is an overwhelming amount of #### in sports journalism and the national media types have their own biases which lead them to write and say things that simply are not true or have no substance. Then they make an enthusiastic argument and pretend like no one watches the games. Remember, with accountability at an all-time low, who's really going to take the time to write a huge counterargument to their anemic arguments? (and not get paid for it). Game Time.
Bill Plaschke of the LA Times thinks that like 3rd grade T-ball, it's Kobe's turn to win the MVP. In his article today, these are the arguments Bill makes supporting Kobe's MVP credentials. -"They're following alongside him, as he directs them on defense, finds them open on offense, energizes them, embraces them." Let's analyze just this point. They're "following" him - meaning they respect him as a team leader, not actually following him around. This would indicate Kobe is a good teammate. Hard to quantify unless you are inside the heads of his teammates. Let's try another, "finds them open on offense". You can always find someone open on offense, is he assisting baskets or threading needles? Is he taking less shots than normal because he's unselfish? How is this valuable. We know how an assists can be valuable, it means one players pass directly lead to the other players basket with little going on in between. Finally, "energizes them" and "embraces them" - great argument, I can definitely see how Kobe has EMBRACED his teammates this year and how he, not Andrew Bynum or the Pau Gasol trade or the addition of Derek Fisher has ENERGIZED the Lakers. This is why writers should never vote for the MVP award. -"He's been more valuable than LeBron James, who has better numbers
but also a Cleveland Cavaliers supporting cast that last season
advanced to the NBA Finals.
Bryant's group is mostly guys who have never been past the first round."
This is definitely my favorite argument of Plaschke's. In one fell swoop, he takes all numbers completely out of the equation. They're not even worth looking at, reader. Just know that Kobe's aren't the best, but all numbers are meaningless. Plaschke's never brings another number into his MVP argument. Not one. So, as the reader, we are meant to focus 100% on aesthetics. A shrewd move for a guy that can't win ANY of the statistical arguments - just nuke em all early. But let's look past his intentions, and to what he actually
J.A. Adande: (3:56 PM ET )
He's FROM Cleveland...I don't care if he wears a Yankee hat.
Cleveland's home. And the most outdated notion in the world is that a
player needs to be in a big market to be a star. You can get a
satelittle uplink or an internet connection anywhere. What NFL players
are bigger than Peyton Manning and Brett Favre? Where do (did) they
play? Green Bay and Wisconsin. LeBron's been on the cover of Fortune,
Vogue, etc. What more could he possibly do by playing in NY?
