Will he, or won’t he? Will Derrick Rose suit up for the Chicago Bulls this season? It’s the question on many minds throughout the basketball world. At current time, it seems unlikely to me that Rose will play this season, and I don’t view that as a bad thing. First off, how ridiculous is it [...]
The 2013 NBA All-Star Game went down Sunday night in Houston. It was an entertaining contest (by ASG standards), that went down to the final minutes. Things got a little serious as the fourth quarter went on, and by the end, both teams were going at it pretty good.
The 2013 ASG showcased the talents of Chris Paul. CP3 showed why he's the best point guard in the NBA right now, and showed why he's in the 'World's Best' conversation.
I thought this game would belong to Lebron James. Again, it's just the ASG, but this was an opportunity for Lebron to truly show that he's head and shoulders above the rest. In the end, it didn't look that way.
Kobe Bryant stepped up and stole the show Sunday night. CP3 was no doubt the MVP, but people will always remember Kobe's defense in the final minutes against Lebron. Bryant blocked James twice and came up with a steal that would lock up the victory for the West.
As with any Kobe vs. Lebron debate, you're going to hear two sides that are far apart. I'm closer to the side that says this means something. Kobe made Lebron look bad, whether it was in an ASG or not, James didn't look good.
Still, it was an exhibition game, and James has had Bryant's number for the most part in their regular season matchups. The sad thing is that we probably won't ever get to see these two duke it out on the grandest stage unless the Los Angeles Lakers get it together:
With that, we take a look at the lasting images from the 2013 NBA All-Star Game:
It's tough to beat an entrance from the floor...
Further proof that entrance music makes everyone seem cooler.
This is the main beef with the ASG - nobody plays defense. I could care less though. People pay to see dunks and spectacular offensive plays. They don't pay to see a defensive struggle.
Westbrook had a good showing, going 7 for 13 with 14 points. He's no doubt one of the most naturally gifted athletes in the game.
This is how Noah got to the ASG. He's averaging 11 and 11 so far this season. There will always be a place for players like Noah in the NBA.
Melo looks terrified, Kobe has a sense of urgency on this face, and Dwight Howard - we're just not quite sure what he's thinking.
Hey, everyone has to have a trademark taunt, and Lebron has picked this. Whatever 'this' is...
Have to love the top down jump ball photo. It's always a cool picture when you look and the game from the top down.
All-Star weekend was a coming out party for Irving. He showed his range by winning the 3 Point-Shootout - then followed it up by keeping the East in the game late in the fourth quarter. It looks like Irving is on his way to the top of the list of NBA point guards.
Why doesn't Lebron enter the Dunk Contest? He throws it down better than almost anyone in the league. After a year full of misses in the contest, fans would just like to see some star players than can make the dunks on the first try. We've seen about all the dunks possible, so now it's time to put the stars back in to regain interest.
One of many behind the back passes in the ASG.
Normally KG would be clinched onto this ball ready to throw some bows, but not in the ASG.
As Michael Cole would say, this is 'vintage' Kevin Durant.
Just a really cool basketball moment frozen in time from the players, to the coaches in the background.
You have to love the backboard cam.
Griffin showed off his ridiculous dunking skills over and over in this game. Griffin versus Lebron in the Dunk Contest would be priceless. That's the kind of matchup people would want to see.
Griffin, again is in the middle of something ridiculous. Does it really hurt that bad?
When you talk about the greatest basketball players on Earth, Chris Paul has to be in that conversation. He's the best point guard in the game, and Sunday night he showed a killer instinct in the final minutes to seal the win and the MVP award.
The ASG MVP trophy is pretty cool. It seems to be an honor that most premier players want to win at least once in their careers.
Kobe's defense on Lebron in the final minutes of the fourth quarter will go down in ASG history. This is what people will remember about 2013. In the scheme of things, it isn't that big of a deal, but it just looks bad for Lebron. Kobe doesn't care what the occasion is, he's going to bring it. This has always been the difference between the two.
The reality though, is that James and the Heat are headed back to the Conference Finals, where as the Lakers will be lucky just to sneak in the playoffs. That's what really matters. However, on the night of February 17, 2013, Kobe got the best of Lebron. His block on King James will be the lasting image from this installment of the ASG. (Sorry it wasn't available from USA Today Sports, but clearly they do a great job.)
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While I still believe the NBA has the best skills competitions, 2013 was not a memorable All-Star Saturday night. This year’s contest featured a new format, pitting East vs. West throughout all four competitions. The idea behind it was great, as the teams played for charity, but the format was a failure. No one cares [...]
When it comes to All-Star games in professional sports, there are a lot of opinions. Some people hate the annual contests, some people love them, while others could care less. I’m of the belief that All-Star games and events are a good thing for the sports and fans. With NBA All-Star Weekend upon us, sports [...]
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Opening week in the NBA is great for many reasons, but my favorite part is the tremendous overreactions that take place. Two or three games in and people and people are already starting to whine and complain, while they jump on and off bandwagons everywhere. It's quite entertaining.
So I've decided to take the equal and opposite approach to an NBA piece where I point out all the ridiculousness that gets throw around just a few games in to an 82-game season.
While some of the panicking is well founded, most of it is just people reaching for stories to create gossip. That's great, I get it, it's just not my thing. You have to give teams time to develop and adapt to the season before you can make judgments.
Not even a week into the season and people are already posing questions like, 'Is it time to panic in Los Angeles?'
I know we live in a 'what have you done for me lately' society, but come on, show a little patience, have a little faith in your team's system. Great teams aren't born overnight, especially in the NBA.
Once it gets well past Christmas, and teams or players still aren't performing, then it's alright to panic. There's a good body of work to look at by that point in the season, and it makes any criticism much more legitimate, even though there's still plenty of season to go...
So without further ado, here are the five biggest overreactions for week one in the association:
Every year people call the Boston Celtics too old, and while the nucleus of the team has gotten younger this season, many of their star players are no doubt on the older side of things.
After a 1-2 start this season, fans everywhere are once again calling the Celtics too old. At this point it's just ridiculous to keep pointing it out. Boston will be there in the playoffs again this season. They proved what they can do last year, as they took the Miami Heat to the brink of elimination. There's no reason to think they couldn't do it again with what seems like a better overall roster.
The Oklahoma City Thunder also sit at 1-2 after the first week of the season, and of course the main question on everyone's mind concerns the James Harden deal. Did the Thunder make the right decision to trade him?
Short-term that answer is no, but I believe the long-term answer is yes. I think that Harden would have probably left as a free agent in the future anyway, so pulling the trigger on a deal to get return value was the best call for the franchise.
It's not going to be an easy transition for the Thunder, but eventually they'll figure it out and get back on track to returning to the Western Conference Finals.
The New York Knicks sit at 2-0 after the first week, and as with anything sports-related in New York, it will get blown out of proportion. Now there's no question that the Knicks are better this year. They made several off-season moves to bring in legitimate veterans to shore up the roster, especially in the back court.
With the new additions primarily handling the ball (Jason Kidd & Raymond Felton), I expect things to open things up for Carmelo Anthony, and a career year is not out of the question for him.
However it's way too early to tell if the Knicks are legitimate contenders in the East. Fans will want desperately to jump on the bandwagon, but it's too soon for all that nonsense.
The season is off to a terrible start for the Los Angeles Lakers. They're 0-3 for the first time since 1978, and off-season acquisition Steve Nash is already out a month with a fractured leg.
Fans are already hitting the panic button, and asking what's wrong in L.A.?
All of this panic is pure overreaction however. Star-laden teams take awhile to gel, especially when they spend little to no time together in the preseason.
Let's wait until late this winter before we start judging the Lakers, because I'm confident they will be just fine.
Harden is already turning heads and raising eyebrows around the league this season. He's propelled the Houston Rockets to a 2-1 start, while putting up some career numbers along the way.
This is all great for fans of Harden and the Rockets, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. I've even heard people throw Harden's name into the MVP discussion already. The reality is that it's way too early to tell if Harden is even a legitimate superstar.
Has he shown the potential of a superstar? Absolutely, but we're talking about a sixth man of the year award winner here. He was the third best player on the Thunder, so I'm not going to deem him a superstar just because he's had a few successful games on a new team.
I do look forward to seeing if James Harden can emerge as the next NBA superstar, but to call him one already, is a rush to judgment.
Over the past several years it’s hard to argue against Lebron James being the most scrutinized athlete in all of sports, and without question the most scrutinized in the NBA. But the years of playoff disappointments and late-game failures finally disappeared for the King in 2011-12 as the Miami Heat took home the Larry O’Brien [...]
