Since Michael Jordan won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in the 1984-85 season, the player who received the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy has gone on to great success. Patrick Ewing (1985-86), David Robinson (1989-90) and Shaquille O’Neal (1992-93) are all in the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players, Tim Duncan (1997-98) has won four rings and LeBron James (2003-04) is well, LeBron James. But when you look at the complete list, there’s one name that just doesn’t belong: Mike Miller. Read More »
Michael Jordan really could have walked onto the Hall of Fame stage and only said “Thank you” before walking away, and he still would’ve garnered headline news. John Stockton’s speech was memorable because he showed more sense of humor in those 15-20 minutes than he did in 15-20 years in the NBA. Jerry Sloan’s speech was notable for its resemblance to the way his teams play ball: a rough grind that drags on forever. And then C. Vivian Stringer simply commanded the stage: entertaining, inspiring, thoughtful, gracious and heartfelt.
Then there was David Robinson. His H.O.F. speech didn’t stand out as much as the others because, well, we already knew what we’d get from The Admiral. Always a better citizen than a basketball player, always a man of God first and foremost, he was predictably thankful and humble, and of course he talked about his faith. Read More »
With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony taking place today, we wanted to give the true diehard fans of the Dime Magazine community an opportunity to write about the 2009 class. Dime reader and Chicago native Jason Oliver, better known to you as “smity far away,” shares his thoughts on Michael Jordan:
*** *** ***
It’s hard to say something about Mike Jordan that hasn’t already been said by much more established and accomplished men. But Mike’s impact and influence on basketball means as much to me as Pac’s impact on music and Malcolm’s impact on ethnic empowerment. Read More »
If media overhype isn’t your thing, or if you’re one of those people who was never a big Michael Jordan fan, you may want to stay in bed and keep away from the TV and Internet today. As you may have heard, MJ (and David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer) will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame today, so it’s gonna be all-Jordan/all-day on pretty much every sports outlet. Some of the Dime crew will be in Springfield, Mass., for the HOF festivities, where we’ll be providing live updates on Dime’s Twitter page. You should also check out @mitchell_ness on Twitter for updates from the VIP point of view, plus the latest on the hottest Jordan product ever released. They may be sold out already at the NBA Store, but we’ll let you know where you can get yours … Now about those “other” H.O.F. inductees: Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about them. Read More »
With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled for this Friday, we wanted to give the true diehard fans of the Dime Magazine community an opportunity to write about the 2009 class. Dime reader Ian Queliz, who has repped his San Antonio Spurs harder than anyone we know, shares his thoughts on David Robinson:
*** *** ***
“The Admiral” is by far the most important Spur to ever put on the uniform — even ahead of Tim Duncan. Why? To put it simply: Without David Robinson, there probably wouldn’t even be a team in San Antonio. Read More »
With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled for this Friday, we wanted to give the true diehard fans of the Dime Magazine community an opportunity to write about the 2009 class. First up, Dime reader and Utah Jazz fan Amar (who maintains his own Utah Jazz blog) shares his thoughts on Jerry Sloan:
*** *** ***
What do you say about a man who has been involved with the NBA (as a player or coach) during the Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama Administrations that has not already been said before? Read More »
The Ricky Rubio song-and-dance has turned into the Michael Myers of the NBA offseason; it just won’t stay down. Last week, Rubio was reportedly going to sign a six-year contract with Regal FC Barcelona (Spain) — where he’d be teammates with J.C. Navarro, Terrence Morris, Fran Vasquez, and the immortal Boniface N’Dong — that had a reasonable buyout option in 2011. Bad news for the Wolves, right? Not so fast. The Barcelona deal isn’t official yet, and in the meantime, Minnesota GM David Kahn has flown to Spain AGAIN trying to work something out. At this point, Kahn might as well buy a condo out there and sublease it when he’s not busy trying to convince Rubio to come to America. Read More »
“You will see a team of professionals in the Olympics again, but I don’t think you’ll see another team quite like this. This was a majestic team.” – USA coach Chuck Daly
There will never be a basketball team like the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team. In the first Olympics to allow NBA players, the Dream Team dismantled the rest of the world, averaging an Olympic record 117.3 points per game and outscoring opponents by an average of 43.8 points on its way to gold. Today, they’ll be formally introduced and honored at the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Chicago. Read More »
The e-mails started early yesterday morning, and unfortunately I was asleep through most of the exchange. (Occupational hazard of living on the West Coast.) If I’d been awake, I wouldn’t have gotten a headache from Dime’s Top 25 Motherf*ckers of All-Time.
The original list we debated had more than SIXTY names on it for consideration. Darrell Armstrong was on it. Kenny Smith was there. Clarence Weatherspoon’s name popped up. Read More »
What are the two toughest places in the NBA right now for a road team to walk in and get a win? Cleveland is the obvious one. But if you haven’t been paying attention lately, you might not realize that Denver deserves to be right up there, too. Both the Cavs and Nuggets rolled yet again in their respective gyms last night, with LeBron’s squad taking a 1-0 lead on the Hawks, and Carmelo’s crew going up 2-0 on the Mavs in another blowout … Read More »
