TrueHoop reader Ian spotted a recent online ad promoting Seattle Sonics jerseys for sale at the NBA store. I bet they built this ad campaign months ago and failed to update it. But I see that you could also interpret it as trying to squeeze one last little bit of profit out of Seattlites. (And the NBA store does still have a Sonics section.) Ian writes: "Did you ever see the Sopranos episode where Tony removes the copper pipes from townhouses he destroyed in a housing scam, in order to get an extra $200-$300? I'm reminded of that."
Mike from Knickerblogger: "Allan Houston is pretending he's 34 years old again, but unfortunately he was out of the league at that point."
Oh man, they asked Jeopardy contestants which NBA player is known as Agent Zero, Hibachi, or the Black President, and everyone just stared blankly. No one even had a guess.
The magazine I spend the most time reading, bar none, is the New Yorker. And when it arrives each week, I race to the table of contents, and just pray that this time, for the first time in years (great Shaquille O'Neal profile in 2002, guys), there might be something in there about the NBA. When gifted writers spend weeks or months getting to know an NBA figure, it's a rare treat. But it almost never happens. The latest issue, however, came this close to having a basketball motif on the cover. You can see the rejected one. They opted instead for an abstract donkey and elephant. (Via Kottke.)
Some things that Sergio Rodriguez does are magnificent. In limited ways, he's among the best in the league. That gets people excited -- and angry that he's on the bench. But going into his third year, it's looking more and more like, in the big picture, he has been a so-so NBA player. Which isn't all that exciting. The exciting part will come if/when he improves his weaknesses enough to set those passing and handling skills free. Has he improved this off-season? With Steve Blake's hammie tweaked, Portland's preseason will be a chance to find out, starting tonight.
The Heat have nine players who are either point guards or centers, which is only weird when you consider that an active roster is 12 players, and everybody knows they need a point guard and a center, and may well end up trading a forward or two to get them.
SuperSonicSoul is wondering about former Sonic phenom Art Harris, who quietly passed away last fall: "Now a year has passed since Art Harris died, and I still don't know anything more about him. Here he was, a kid from Watts, who got a scholarship to Stanford, one of the greatest academic institutions in the entire country, goes on to make the NBA's All-Rookie team, gets traded to Phoenix, then fades from memory. What happened to Art Harris? What did his post-NBA life entail before he died at age 60? The NBRPA doesn't even know the exact date of death, only a vague 'mid-October' with no mention, either, of the location. The Stanford University site equally draws a blank, not even reporting his death until three months later, while the Seattle Times and PI were completely silent about the event."
Playing with calculators and spreadsheets, trying to figure out which Thunder players matter most. This crude formula says ... Kevin Durant. Hard to argue with that. Although I'm sure plenty of stat geeks could blow some holes in the mathematical process.
Joe Dumars talks business, as reported by Tina Reed of the Ann Arbor News: "Dumars said Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups wanted to know how he made the transition from player to management. The secret was in how he defined himself, Dumars said. 'I said, 'Chauncey, if you only see yourself as an athlete, it's going to be really hard to make that transition,' Dumars said. 'I said, 'Chauncey, if your life is only judged by how fast you can run or how high you can jump, y'know, at 40, that doesn't feel good.'" (Via Detroit Bad Boys)
If you are inclined to follow every last fizzle of Stephon Marbury's falling star, you'll want to read this.
The Mavericks have a new offense, which has lots of movement of people and the ball. Is it like the triangle? More like a rectangle, according to Rick Carlisle.
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