Earlier this week, NBA legends Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and powerful player agent, Mark Bartelstein, jumped onto NBA TV’s Game Time to talk about the depressing state of affairs in the NBA. Barkley has voiced his opinion constantly for the last six months or so, and he’s always believed we were going to miss the entire season. Both Barkley and Miller don’t see this lockout playing out like the last one (1998-99) at all, and Miller especially voices his criticism of today’s stars not stepping up the way MJ did. That’s not a good look. We could be in for a long wait. Check out some of the highlights from the conversation after the jump. Read More »
You want to know how many Reggie Miller threes I watched as a kid? Boom baby! became one of my catch phrases. Not only am I yelling it at least 10 times during every basketball video game I play, but I use it in real-life situations as well (it’s a bad habit). Because of so many huge playoff moments, Miller was one of the faces of the ’90s generation. The question for me though is was it warranted? In 18 years, he only made three All-NBA teams and five All-Star games. At the same time, he dropped over 25K points and is the owner of dozens of memorable clutch shots…
Let’s thank Andrew Bynum for pointing out the obvious: the Lakers were steamrolled in the playoffs by Dallas because they were tired, mentally and physically, they were overconfident and cocky, they didn’t totally respect the Mavs (who seriously did?) and they felt they could turn it on and off. The three-peat didn’t happen, it ended ugly, and now no one really knows what their future holds. Bynum wants everyone to be more accountable. He called out the whole team, including himself. For the Lakers to get back to the apex, Bynum needs to not only stay healthy, but also mature. Read More »
Keeping up with the Joneses is a phrase that took on a life of its own, and when you look at it through NBA-colored glasses, you can see why: it’s a pretty popular last name. 45 NBA players have been named Jones, and while that’s a pretty cool stat, three other last names are actually more common among NBA/ABA players.
The road to retirement is a long one, and it’ll always start with this: He’s slowing down. He’s not the same player anymore. As they say, you can’t cheat death and you can’t escape Father Time when the hands start squeezing you, your breaths become shorter and the life starts dripping out of your legs. Final Destination.
But in this new age of the NBA, there are more ways than ever to prolong your career. New surgeries, nutrition, around-the-clock trainers, Yoga, even all of the splendid amenities that come with playing professional basketball, they all help to do what no one thought possible even 10-15 years ago: make a player’s relevancy last for longer than 15 years. Read More »
If these conference finals proved anything, it’s that experience means something. But so does thirst. That thirst for a ring drove the Mavs to take out the Thunder and last night, the Heat, specifically LeBron James, used that thirst to stab Chicago in the heart. With three minutes left, the Bulls were up 12, playing the exact rumble-in-the-mud game they wanted with the exact relentlessness we expected, and we figured it was a formality. Game 6. Miami. Here we come. Except it didn’t happen. The Heat came back to win 83-80. They survived more than anything else, simply the last men standing in this brawl. And sometimes, that’s all you need. Read More »
At this point, you’ve heard it all about Chris Bosh. Miami only has “two great players.” Should’ve signed Amar’e. He melts in the clutch. He’s soft. The fake tough guy. The Bosh-trich. Over the last year, we’ve all heard the dude get killed (and if you’re like us, maybe you did just a little bit of the killing), but the time has come. Give credit where it’s due. Chris Bosh was incredible in Game 3 (34 points), leading the Miami Heat to a 96-85 W over the Bulls. Read More »
Imagine if you were on a team, lobbying for more playing time, and were asked, “Well, what have you done to earn it?” Right now, Miami’s Udonis Haslem would have to say “Um, in seven playoff minutes so far, I haven’t scored a point, and haven’t grabbed a rebound.”
But with Miami trailing Chicago 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, and their situation becoming increasingly dire (no one has a clue what they’ll do about the rebounding problems), Haslem says he’s ready and hoping for more time. Read More »
As we mentioned in Smack, I got the chance to participate in a conference call yesterday with TNT and the voices of the Eastern Conference Finals: Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr and Marv Albert. They broke down the Chicago and Miami matchup for nearly 45 minutes, and TNT alerted me that Game 1 on Sunday night was actually the most watched NBA game of all-time in cable history. It finished with a 6.2 rating and over 11 million viewers. The amount of hype and anticipation for this series is clearly exceeding even our own lofty expectations. Read More »
How long will it take the Mavs to get the creaky joints moving again? The Western Conference Finals finally kick off in Dallas tonight at 9 p.m. ET and the Mavs need to be sharp after having more than a week off. One team is coming off a dragged out, never-ending, physical war while the other has been sipping on green tea and getting deep-tissue massages on all of their old limbs. Read More »
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