Filed under: Basketball, Feel, NBA, News | Tags: 2008-2009, Chris Paul, kobe bryant, LeBron James, mvp
So it’s official, even if most of us knew it was inevetible. Lebron James was the most valuable player in the NBA for the 2008-2009 season. No arguments here, the guy took his immense talent, popularity, and leadership and blew all three up to the next level. That much is undeniable for anyone. Regardless of a person’s definition of “MVP” (wheather that be best-player-on-the-best-team, player-that-carried-a-good-team, or best player in the league), you’d be hardpressed not to give the Most Valuable Player award to LBJ. He was by far the best player and leader on the best team in the NBA this season. He was the best player in the entire league this season. Say what you want about Chris Paul’s inhuman stat lines, the rebirth of Wade or Kobe’s general inhumanness, but Lebron deserves this award more than any other.
Sorry that the post was a bit rant-ish and thrown together, but I’m in a rush this afternoon.
And in other news, this place has been DEAD. Absolutely croaked. So I’m bringing it back. Hopefully it won’t just turn into a Thelonious Dunk ranting board, but hey, there’s nothign wrong with that if it does.
So i’ll keep things flowing ’round here, long as you keep stopping by.
-TD
Filed under: Basketball, News, Photo, Villains, Yardbird | Tags: FIU, Florida International, isiah thomas, The Jeffersons, University
He’s mooooovin’ on up.
Yardbird here, introducing the newest member of the EC crew, Thelonious Dunk.
He’s a good friend of mine, and a big Knicks fan, so be cool and play nice.
Plus, what a badass name, no?
Hopefully he’ll post here Friday if not tomrorow, so you all out there give em your best.
Untilnexttime,
Yardbird
Filed under: Basketball, Comedy, NBA, News, Photo, Trade, Yardbird | Tags: Bethlehem Shoals, Comic, ESPN, FreeDarko, Garbage Time All Stars, Golden Age Theory, John Hollinger, Larry Hughes, Links, Post-Jordan Era
It’s unprecedented to think that a league that has finally shed itself of the stigma that hung over it in the post-Jordan era is losing money and racking up debt. But according to this article, the NBA is borrowing $175 million that will ultimately help up to 15 teams offset decreasing streams of revenue. It’s arguable that we’re on the verge or are entering another Golden Age of the Association, and it’s a shame that the current economy puts a damper over it.
Not since the Great Depression has the economy affected professional sports more than in the past year or so, and today’s trading deadline is proof of that. No big blockbuster trades, no moves for championship contention. 99% of the trades made were made for one reason: money. I mean, when Larry Hughes’ contract is the centerpiece of a deal, you know times are bad. Never before has an expiring contract been worth so much to so many.
(Yeah, that’s Larry Hughes. Apparently those women aren’t attracted to a nice jumpshot.)
The most bizarre part of the deadline was the take-backs of the Tyson Chandler trade. The move was purely for monetary reasons from the NOLA side, and yet they cannot catch a break on that one. Must have been awkward for the two teams playing on the same court two nights ago.
Shoals wrote a nice little piece about the current state of the NBA’s economy, and you can read it HERE.
HERE’s Hollinger’s grades of the deadline deals from ESPN.com.
I leave you with a Garbage Time All-Stars comic that represents the feeling of today’s deadline well. If you haven’t already, check out these guys. They write and draw some good shit.
Be Easy,
Yardbird
Filed under: Basketball, NBA, News, Trade | Tags: Adam Morrison, Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Lakers, Mitch Kupchak, Shannon Brown, Vlad Radmanovic
Yesterday, Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown were shipped to Los Angles for Vlad Radmanovic. Not that this trade is ANYTHING near the GrizzTheft ‘08, but Mitch Kupchak has to have incriminating photos of the rest of the GM’s in the league.
Filed under: Basketball, NBA, News | Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, Go Warriors, Golden State of Mind, Golden State Warriors, Injury Report, Monta Ellis
The past two days have been AWFUL. I’ve had this, to quote the great Charles Barkley, turrible cold/flu thing that’s kept me in bed and out of educational facilities for the past three days now. It feels like someone hit me over the head with a sack full of bricks, and the only thing that could have made me feel worse was if I was Eddy Curry’s chauffeur. But then I saw this:
Filed under: Basketball, NBA, News | Tags: Alonzo Mourning, Basketball, Brett Favre, Joe Paterno, NBA, old, retirement, wow
Some people just don't know when to quit
I wish someone could tell me what’s going through Alonzo Mourning’s head. Why is he still thinking about coming back to the NBA? He’s pushing 40, just came off of a crazy injury, and can’t play for nothing. If I was him, I would’ve been long gone after the way his last game ended. Not only because I was an old man trying to play basketball who just destroyed my knee, but because he walked off like a G. If he retired right then and there, that would have been one of the most memorable retirements. Besides, I doubt he’ll come out and do anything worth doing. Obviously the G2 ain’t workin Zo, so it’s time to bounce. He said himself, “Really. The years of basketball has been good to me and my family and unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.” Well, that end has come. Heres an idea. Why don’t you just sit on the sideline with Spoelstra and coach. I’m sure the Heat would love to have you do something. Beasley needs some polishing so you’ve got a job lined up already. I mean, if you’re way past your prime, why not help those who are in theirs? When you’re coaching, you can stay for as long as you like. Maybe not with the same team, but you’re still coaching, right? Just ask Joe Paterno, he knows all about that.
Filed under: Basketball, NBA, News, Readymades, Villains | Tags: Basketball, Boston Celtics, Hair, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, NBA, News, Readymades, Stephon Marbury, Villains
For most of the first trimester of this NBA season, there has been one man constantly stealing the spotlight away from such places as Lebron’s new found transcendence, three teams (Si, three teams) that could reasonably reach 70 wins without surprising anyone and the widening of the PG gap between Chris Paul (I refuse to refer to him as CP3. It’s an awful nickname) and Deron Williams: Mr. Head Tattoo himself, Stephon Marbury.
Absurdity, thy name is Starbury
First it was the scalp art, then the sometimes dramatic, always absurd melodramatic divorce between Starbury and the Knickerbockers, and now this:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3804977
Besides the obvious tension that would exist between Stephon and his first wife, Kevin Garnett, this could potentially bring down the House that Ainge built. How would he interact with the BIG3? What would happen to Rondo? Could he prevent another Celtics dynasty? Would he get Red Auerbach tattooed on his head as well? No one can say for sure.
The point is, that Marbury has been turning the greatest sport in the world into a joke in the very city that brought it to greatness in the first place. Stephon Marbury is an enigma, simultaneously showing the light side (players such as Dwight Howard, the aforementioned Chris Paul, and Brandon Roy) of the game by serving as an almost comedic and disproportionate foil to these players, and at the same time representing all that is rotten in the league (unquenchable thirst for money, power, and fame). He shouldn’t be villainized , he should be celebrated as the ludicrous and farcical character in the great production of the NBA. Do not reject and scorn this man, respect and treasure him as the ultimate agent of absurdity in the king among sports.
