The NBA Thread

[mark b]

The first two rounds of the playoffs this year were really disappointing, probably because of the injuries. The conference finals have been awesome though.

[Chris L]

[nec13]

[Eric Fishlegs]

I really hate rooting for the Celtics. Since I grew up in an Irish-Catholic neighborhood in North Jersey, I was surrounded by Celtics fans who were attached to the nickname and also racist and attached themselves to a team led by white guys.

I love the way Rajan Rondo plays, and Doc Rivers seems like a good dude, even though the rest of that team is comprised of some truly hatable people.

But I looove what they’re doing to Miami. .

I can't blame you. If I weren't from here no way would I like Boston sports or Boston fans (or Boston sports radio) but I am and I do like the C's and the Pats (and that's it).  During the C's/Phil. playoffs Cs fans at the [insert corporate name] Garden were chanting "Sca-la-bri-ni" - the former C's backbencher who was white, has red hair and was most popular on the team amongst the bridge and tunnel crowd. Not that hard to guess why.  Shameful. Ignomnious. 

With that said, Go Celtics. If only for Doc Rivers to get deserved recognition for the job he's done for this franchise.  And even though Garnett's supposed to be "yeah he's an asshole but he's our asshole", I'll never forgive him for taunting Charlie Villanueva as "a cancer patient".  Fuck that guy. Just win it and go away.

I think it was Bob Ryan who once said that Celtics fans are not racist, but every racist's favorite team is the Boston Celtics.

[Gilly]

Garnett was said to be a terrible teammate when he was here in Minnesota. Now, that could be because his teammates weren't committed to winning like Garnett obviously is, but you wonder if he could have won in Minnesota if he lifted his teammates up rather than fighting with them. I can't stand Boston sports at all, their fans all believe that their teams are the antithesis to New York and LA and the media buys into it as well. I have no problem with New York and LA teams because at least they know their teams have money to blow and players want to come to their cities. Boston fans and the media portray their teams like they are Salt Lake City and the ultimate underdogs. Can't stand that!

As for race issues, I want to believe that the majority of Celtics fans aren't racist and every team has that to some extent. A lot of people here in Minnesota who turned not only off the Wolves but also the NBA came back this year and I have to believe that has something to do with their three stars being white. It is what it is, but the majority of Wolves fans couldn't care less as long as they are playing better. I know that race is in play in Boston, but I'm not going to hate on a team because they have some racist fans, I'm going to hate them because their fans think all their teams are Rudy.

[buffcoat]

At least that doesn't happen with the Pacers.

[Greggulator]

I am so incredibly pumped for OKC (even though Tom continues to ridicule me on Twitter for saying the Spurs were on pace to being a Top 15 team of all-time). I think they're America's Team -- the most lovable good team in any sport right now. The only gripe anyone has is that KD a lot of times doesn't get the ball in the fourth, but a lot of that is because teams want Westbrook or Harden to take control and are shading KD away from the ball. And Westbrook and Harden are great and should take big shots at times.

Everything came together brilliantly the past four nights. They went from having overwhelming talent to having overwhelming talent that has figured out very nicely how to play great basketball. They out-Spured the Spurs.

I have never liked dynasties in pro sports. But if OKC does start the roll they're capable of -- their young core are still babies -- then this could be a great few years with those guys at the front of the league.

[Wes]

As a basketball moment, this is such a terrible image. As a "trying out for the 'Telephone Hour' part in Bye Bye Birdie" viral campaign, though, it'd be fantastic.

Wade turning into a guy who plays for the foul instead of the shot and thus becoming more unlikeable than LeBron has been the worst part of the Miami nightmare experience. Shaq had that famous quote about Penny being Fredo, Kobe being Sonny and Wade being Michael Corleone (remember that Shaq?), and watching Wade rolling around on the floor and staring up at refs after every play feels like Wade has moved into Devil's Advocate/S1m0ne-era Pacino now. I don't remember going from liking a player to dreading watching him as fast as this.

[InspectorHound]

I am so incredibly pumped for OKC (even though Tom continues to ridicule me on Twitter for saying the Spurs were on pace to being a Top 15 team of all-time). I think they're America's Team -- the most lovable good team in any sport right now.

All the more tragic that they're not still in Seattle.

[nec13]

As a basketball moment, this is such a terrible image. As a "trying out for the 'Telephone Hour' part in Bye Bye Birdie" viral campaign, though, it'd be fantastic.

Wade turning into a guy who plays for the foul instead of the shot and thus becoming more unlikeable than LeBron has been the worst part of the Miami nightmare experience. Shaq had that famous quote about Penny being Fredo, Kobe being Sonny and Wade being Michael Corleone (remember that Shaq?), and watching Wade rolling around on the floor and staring up at refs after every play feels like Wade has moved into Devil's Advocate/S1m0ne-era Pacino now. I don't remember going from liking a player to dreading watching him as fast as this.

Agreed.

Wade used to be a pleasure to watch, going back to his days at Marquette. Now he's become the most detestable player on a roster with no shortage of them.

[Mr. Spacely]

My issue with Wade is that he's 30 and plays an ugly, crashing, thrashing, splashing form of SG. His play at 23 was unsustainable and we're seeing it now, as he's failed to develop a consistent outside game, ala Kobe or Jordan.

Chris Bosh looks like a guy in drag dressed as a man. Sort of a Madea feedback loop.

On the subject of racist fans...

No die hard fan of the NBA can ultimately be racist. If that makes sense (I know, it really doesn't, but stay with me). I think the bigger issue is the vast majority of the country that expresses animosity toward the NBA and doesn't watch or follow it at all. I often encounter people who deride the NBA with loaded words like "selfish thugs" and blablabla. Those people are far worse than any Celtics fan. Who, after all, are still watching and enjoying and supporting the League with their money and time.

[Greggulator]

When was the last time someone from the NBA got arrested? I can't even remember a DUI...

I think OKC's dynasty faces a severe threat from its ownership group. A 20% stake is owned by Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy (who the arena is named after and America's leader in natural gas fracking). He's under a ton of pressure from all of these dubious side deals he's made with his company. Essentially, he's mortgaged out of his mind. He even had some loan with his stake in the Thunder as collateral.

This can really hurt OKC down the line. The SEC is after McClendon right now. Also, with natural gas prices as low as they are right now, he really could face a major cash problem. He had to sell about $500 million of his stock in his own company a few years ago because of the same thing.

In a best case scenario, he'll sell of his stake (and there will be shortage of buyers) and they'll rename the arena after whatever Oklahoma-based energy company wants some publicity.

In a worst case scenario: his loans come due and whoever floated him that loan takes his shares. That will end up in some crazy court case. And that can really screw up the team's finances, just as they need to make some big contract decisions.

I used to be an energy journalist. A few of us who are NBA fans were discussing this months ago. A lot of this is just being reported now. It's something to keep an eye on.

[nec13]

Unfortunately, the NBA has a reputation for being a league full of so-called "thugs." It's a shame because that reputation is largely undeserved. You rarely, if ever, hear about NBA players getting arrested, even for petty offenses. I think whatever criminal issues the NBA may have had have been largely rooted out of the league at this point.

Another common complaint seems to be that NBA players don't play the game the "right way." This is one critique I don't particularly understand. IMO, the quality of basketball in the NBA hasn't been this good since the late 80's/early 90's. 

[Mr. Spacely]

OKC also has the problem that this team's gonna be hard-to-impossible to keep together. Which, of course, is the terrible hypocrisy of this league. They want us to fall in love with an OKC team as the epitome of a small-market done right, but the CBA prevents not just small markets, but big markets, from keeping championship teams together. The league would rather have every one be "pretty good" rather than a few awesome teams. And I know, the average fan may feel that way, too, but it ultimately leads to crap ratings and lower interest. I mean, really, Boston-OKC is NOT going to light up any ratings charts. It's just not. The NBA is not the NFL, where casual views will tune to watch any two teams play.

[Kid Pain]

Not to be a complete homer, but this video highlighting the different introductions of the Big Threes made me laugh:

http://www.csnne.com/pages/video?PID=lMszCXZ4qmEiOmy564dgMFfmHHN4UpBd