You don’t end up on 8 teams in 8 years if you’re one of the more valuable players in the league. That said, you don’t end up on 8 teams in 8 years without some value, either. The scouting report on Ramon Sessions hasn’t changed much since he debuted with the Bucks in 2007. He entered the league as a lightning fast… Read more →
“Everybody sees now we would have won last year if we had had Ced.” Charles Barkley, February 1994. Sir Charles didn’t know it then but 1993 was the closest he’d get. His Suns, and later his Rockets, wouldn’t make the Finals again. In fact, he’s been retired for 15 years and they still haven’t. In ’93, Cedric Ceballos was on his way…. Read more →
.336 from the field. .219 from the arc. Unfortunately, these will live for eternity as John Wall’s shooting numbers from his debut playoff run last season. Eleven games of bricks that will weigh down his Basketball Reference page forever. As a high schooler, Wall led Word of God to the coveted North Carolina Class 1A State Title, securing him a spot at… Read more →
Nobody pulls for The Empire, aside from those who… pull for the empire. There are industries and economies in every sport, in every country, driven by the polarizing effect of the resident juggernaut. Their gravity is such that not just a culture is formed around them, but a counter culture. For every five tickets sold to a Man United or Yankees game, there’s an infant sized… Read more →
Games milestones aren’t celebrated in the NBA, not in the way they are in the AFL or NRL, at least. You won’t see a player run through a banner commemorating their 100th, 300th or even 1,000thgame. In fact they’re not really a thing in any US major sport. The only relatable episode that lives in recent memory is Cal Ripken’s streak and Cal had… Read more →
“Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system of offense in the game…. but if the players don’t have a sense of oneness as a group, your efforts won’t pay off” – Phil Jackson Phil Jackson, he of 11 rings and Eleven Rings, preaches and practices that winning basketball is… Read more →
This season will almost certainly yield a Lakers franchise record. However, in the minds of the organisation and its fans, it will be quickly forgotten. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1959, the fewest wins the Lakers have captured in a season is 27. Currently, the total sits at 18. Barring a late inning win-surge that would rob them of their… Read more →
Almost exactly this time last year, Westbrook had 17, 9 and 9 in a win against the Bulls, a fore bearer of the boxscore Armageddon he’d unleash in 2015. Oh, and KD had 35, 12 and 5. Later that week, Russ struggled his way to 15 on 5-13 shooting, 1 assist and 3 turnovers. KD… We forgot Kevin?!? #homealone #kevindurant #wereminisce A… Read more →
“Who’s the next Jordan?” has been and remains the most overbearing and oppressive investigation of the last two NBA decades. It’s evolved from a question to a criteria. “Mike wouldn’t have missed that” and “No way is Mike passing that shot up in crunch time” are things you hear every year come playoff time, if not earlier. LeBron was born… Read more →
Rumours of the Spurs’ demise may have been greatly exaggerated. Again. In what has become more or less an annual event, the NBA universe writes off San Antonio just in time for them to make it look foolish. Whether it be pre-season, mid-season or even in the playoffs, the Spurs are roundly dismissed as contenders right before they contend. Again…. Read more →
