From the Associated Press: "[Doc Rivers] smiled and added, 'I told Kobe, the one thing I know from this point on, our generation had better bodies than their generation, because they looked horrible in those shorts.' Bryant wasn't thrilled about wearing the old-time shorts. 'I don't know what it feels like to wear a thong, but I imagine it feels something like what we had on in the first half,' he said with a grin. 'I felt violated.'"
Chad Ford's latest mock draft includes the idea that the Grizzlies might trade up to get Michael Beasley. That idea intrigues me. They should take that kind of gamble. If he plays as well in the NBA as he does in college, he could save that team. And they have nothing much to lose. Also, can you believe that Chris Douglas-Roberts could be taken 27th? I'd take that guy with the 15th pick if I had the chance.
I spent ten minutes of my day annoyed at this thing.
Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm on the Spurs: "I couldn't help but think to myself, no matter how much I still rooted against them, 'These guys really can't win with the public.' Part of me wonders if we needed a villain. With the Lakers' Shaq-Kobe mini-dynasty dissolved, and no one else dominant, I wonder if we turned on them merely because they were so predictably better than everyone."
Stanford Coach Trent Johnson coached Robin and Brook Lopez, who are both projected to be in the first round of this year's draft. If he had the first two picks in the draft, he swears he'd take Brook and Robin. And leave Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose. You can not accuse this man of politicking for an NBA GM job.
Belgium may be in crisis. They just might be chronically short of celebrities! To which I say: Tony Parker was born in Belgium. Tony, ten million Belgians are waiting to adore you. Please do not delay: Embrace your inner Belgian.
According to this report, the Nets have secured a half-billion dollars in sponsorships toward their new arena in Brooklyn. That's more than entire arenas cost in most cities. And this is for New York's second NBA team. If true, this is further proof of the power of the New York market.
Brian McCormick: "It seems wrong that Kobe Bryant can epitomize everything wrong with the NBA last summer, belittling his teammates, demanding a trade, calling out his GM, etc and now he is the MVP and on top of the world. I have a hard time rooting for this to happen. On the other hand, I also hate when players like Sam Cassell are able to get their team to buy out their contract mid-season so they can sign a new contract to play for a championship contender."
Dave from BlazersEdge: "Having watched the Eastern Conference Finals this year, even in a somewhat cursory manner, I couldn't help but come away with a thought: Boy, the Pistons sure could have used Rasheed Wallace this year. 'But wait,' you say, ''Sheed is still on their team!' I know. Watching Rasheed's career wind down, seeing him limp into the sunset more than ride gloriously, knowing what kind of player he was in his Portland days and how close we were to maybe doing something special, you can't help but wonder what could have been."
Former Celtic Frank Ramsey, as quoted by Barry Stavro in the Los Angeles Times: "Ramsey said he didn't touch a basketball after the Celtics season ended till training camp in September. 'I had a job on a farm or construction. I got up at 4 a.m., I worked and I went to bed early. I had three kids. I was just trying to survive. I didn't have time to play ball,' he said."
Did you see where Derrick Rose's college teammate Joey Dorsey said he knows that Derrick Rose will be headed to Miami? Rose's response, via DraftExpress: "If anyone knows, it wouldn't be Joey."
Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune: "There is a lot of talk about how the renewal of the ancient rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics is a fascinating subplot to these Finals. I agree, to a point. This series is made-for-TV, involving two huge markets and the most stories franchises in the league. But there is an entire generation of pro basketball fans who probably look at this differently than the over-40 crowd. They don't remember the Celtics' glory years -- just the gory years. They don't remember Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy and Red Auerbach. They remember Travis Knight, Vin Baker, Todd Day and Rick Pitino."
Ivan Carter of the Washington Post: "Someone -- can't remember who -- once told me a story about GP's greatest trash talking moment. Apparently he was inbounding the ball once when some fan was giving it to him pretty good. Without even turning around, GP yelled over his shoulder: 'Shut up fool before I slap you with my wallet!' God I hope that's true."
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