The NBA Thread

[gravy boat]

Greggulator, I'd love your predictions for:

- When Eddy Curry plays a minute for the Heat
- How many games this year he plays more than 12 minutes

[Greggulator]

1) They play the Wizards and are up by 40 with three minutes to go.

2) Zero.

[jbissell]

Watching Joakim Noah this season makes me super sad.

[Greggulator]

I ended my Saturday night watching the second half of Lakers/Clippers.

This was a really high-spirited game.

I can't believe I'm saying this since I spent most of my career hating his every move, but there is nobody I'm enjoying watching more than Kobe. (On top of being a total douche, Kobe was headed to my beloved La Salle before going to the NBA, and if he went there Rip Hamilton was supposedly going to join him, and my college experience would have been exponentially better, but it was pretty great so I'm being dumb.)

He's just so much smarter than everyone else playing basketball right now. He gets in position constantly and, on top, he still has his ruthlessness. He's made up for the pounding on his body by constantly working on new quirks to his game. Nobody works harder than he does and it shows.

[Greggulator]

Also, I hung out this week with somebody who has worked on NBA on TNT and has met a ton of players. He said:

1) The three on-air guys are as great off-camera as they are on and are wonderful people. Barkley is exactly what you think -- he's larger-than-life and gets pissed if anyone pays for anything in his presence. Before they became rightly hailed as the greatest sports studio show of all-time, they won a shocking Emmy. Charles was there for that and was more thrilled than the tech guys. The ceremony was in NY and he made a phone call and rented out some night club on the spur of the moment and told everyone to bring friends and family.

2) Kobe Bryant, to anyone's shock, is a solid dude. Kobe's always professional with shoots and knows every camera/tech person's name and is super giving with his time. What he does off-the-court he's not really privvy too, but Kobe got married super young and made mistakes like any other human. But Kobe's a great dude.

3) Chris Bosh is another really great guy and is super obsessed with gaming. He's got a weird sense of humor that's really dry. Another great guy is Caron Butler. People love that dude throughout the league. Other good guys are pretty much everyone on the beloved Suns team, Dirk and Melo. Melo's into the glam lifestyle but is super laid back.

4) Le Bron has always been a douche and has just gotten worse. D-Wade used to be an awesone guy but as soon as he won his ring  became a douche.

[Greggulator]

Also:

* NBA players are just like any other person when they're in their 20s. They love to go out and have a good time. But, because of their visibility, they have all sorts of attention and people never leave them alone. Also, a lot of players -- especially the guys from the more disadvantaged backgrounds -- constantly get hit up by people (distant family members, neighborhood dudes) for money. More players have become savvy about this and don't just hand out money anymore.

* Shaq's a nice guy but is very cagey in terms of what he says to who. This isn't shocking.

* AI was rumored to have spent $1 million a month during his prime.

[wood and iron]

I don't know why it pleases me so much to hear when celebrities and sports figures are good people. I guess we've just come to be so predisoposed to think of them as being cynical, spoiled, and snobby that it's refreshing when we hear of people who appreciate what life and talent has given them.

Regarding Lebron being a douche: that seems obvious. But that seems to happen when you become famous and rich as a young person. I think the theory that you stay the same age you are when you become famous.

[Chris L]

Another great guy is Caron Butler. People love that dude throughout the league.

This doesn't surprise me. One time when Butler was playing for the Wizards, a teenage fan posted on his Facebook page or something that it was his birthday and invited him to his party. He showed up at the kid's house in suburban DC that same night with some presents.

[Gilly]

I would have never thought that about Kobe. He seems like a grump who doesn't allow anybody near him and is full of himself. I don't like his personality on the court but he wins and you can't fault that. I really don't like what I saw during a timeout earlier this year- Kobe coaching his teammates while Mike Brown just stood and watched. Maybe that was a one time thing and there was a reason behind it. I haven't seen much of the Lakers this year. If that's the truth about Kobe though, I'm glad to hear it.

I have to say that TNT shouldn't have brought Shaq on board. Maybe he'll get more comfortable, but he's kind of bringing it down a notch and not meshing with Barkley very well. It's still the best around and I'm really surprised because I thought he'd be a natural fit.

[Mr. Spacely]

Where is C-Webb these days? It seems like Shaq pushed him out, ala Leno pushing out Conan.

Thanks for the rundown of insider-y gossip, Gregg. I'm a touch surprised by Kobe's politeness to the peons. It seems like he's grown a bit since the 2007 Esquire interview, wherein he came across -- not mean -- but very closed off and insular.

[Greggulator]

Where is C-Webb these days? It seems like Shaq pushed him out, ala Leno pushing out Conan.

Thanks for the rundown of insider-y gossip, Gregg. I'm a touch surprised by Kobe's politeness to the peons. It seems like he's grown a bit since the 2007 Esquire interview, wherein he came across -- not mean -- but very closed off and insular.

C-Webb's on the NBA TV recap show and is STYLISH. He dresses like a lit professor.

[dave from knoxville]

Monday Power Rating update: 1) Chicago 2) Clippers 3) Lakers 4) Dallas 5) Indiana 6) Boston 7) Orlando Miami 9) New York 10) Oklahoma City 11) San Antonio 12) Atlanta 13) Utah 14) Denver 15) Golden State 16) Houston 17) Portland 18) Philadelphia 19) Toronto 20) Charlotte 21) Memphis 22) Cleveland 23) Detroit 24) Minnesota 25) Sacramento 26) New Jersey 27) Phoenix 28) Milwaukee 29) Washington 30) New Orleans

[Greggulator]

I love Utah.

I hadn't paid any attention to them because I thought they'd be pretty bad since they're so young and Ty Corbin doesn't have much experience. But they're a REALLY good, feisty team.

They're running that same old offense they've seemingly run since The Hooters dominated the charts. And, despite the youth and new people, they're running it just as they always have.

Paul Millsap's a warrior. I've always enjoyed watching him play. When his mid-range jumper is falling, he's as good as any interior player in the league. He should actually look for his shot more than he does.

Al Jefferson's a quietly great player. If you take out his first two years on the Celtics, he's averaging somewhere around 19.5 and 10 boards and is efficient doing so.

The only downfall of this team is inconsistency from the rest of the team.  Their third leading scorer is Josh Howard. They also haven't gotten a thing from Devin Harris yet.

But I really like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. If those guys make any sort of leap this year, and Harris picks up, I could see them stealing a series.

[Omar]

Roy Hibbert seems like a fine young man.  He is my favorite player.  My second favorite player is Gregory Monroe.

[Mr. Spacely]

Wait, who in the Wide World of Sports thinks the Celtics are the 6th best team?