Blog Posts For Tag: Lebron James

The Big Three may have not have been able to deliver in the NBA Finals last season, but perhaps the Big Five can. Coach Erik Spoelsrta has put this lineup – one with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in the backcourt and Mike Miller, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem in the front court – on the floor in the fourth quarter and the quintet has responded by closing out the Philadelphia 76er and the Toronto Raptors.

Is LeBron really the best player in NBA history? Who knows, he still potentially has a decade left until he retires. Choosing to live in the here and now I am more excited about this NBA Finals matchup! I know this pains the hyperbolic sports media, but they should really be dissecting the Heat-Mavericks rematch because this could be a better series than the beloved Lakers-Celtics finals of the past few seasons.

Team USA has puts its collection of talent together for 2010 FIBA Championship in Turkey. This initial collection of 22 potential national representatives is far from as impressive as the All-NBA team that rolled out for the 2008 Olympic Games in China. Still, there is no real sense of worry that our national team will fail to bring home the first outright FIBA Championship since 1994.

The Miami Heat are a few roster spots short of going to war in the NBA Eastern Conference. There is no question LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh will be starting, but there will be two more spots left on the floor though. While Zydrunas Ilgauskas will likely start at center, the question is who will take the fifth?

The NBA has an obsession with the number three. The ultimate expression of dominance in this new era of basketball is the three-peat. Every team must have a three point specialist to space the floor in this age of unimaginably tall basketball players at every position. And now the rule of three is being applied to the championship equation.

I hate to write a reaction piece, but I was listening to Bill Simmon’s Sportsguy Podcast with Ric Bucher yesterday and was intrigued by the re-emergence of the thought that LeBron James might be the most physically gifted player in the history of the league, but his passion for basketball falls short of eventually making him the best player in the history of the NBA.

The NFL offseason has overshadowed the NBA postseason this year. While the NFL made fans squirm, holding the NFL schedule release back until it could serve as a terrific lead in for the NFL draft and the latest Ben Roethlisberger drama, the NBA has been having another spectacular first round of the playoffs. So, for those sports fans just coming out of the football trance, here is what you have been missing.

Two thousand and ten is the dawn of a new decade and the coming teen years of the 21st century appear to be loaded with greatness (LeBron James) and conflict (multiple potential season-ending collective bargaining agreements). So, let’s take a trip to the future after these years of calamity and see what the world of sports is like in the post-apocalyptic date of 2020.

When do we know that a sports query or sports story has truly resonated with the public? When a group of guys over 25 gets together for a mini-reunion and manages to talk about them between embellished stories of debauchery. My buddy Bill came back from New York this Holiday season and there were two sports topics discussed: the ever-escalating Tiger Woods sex saga and whether or not LeBron James will stay in Cleveland or bolt for New York. As interesting as it was pretending to be the PR team for Tiger, the most interesting question had for me was the LeBron talks.

Here is some scandalous gossip for you which we haven’t heard the likes of in a while. The reason has come out to why hunky actor Lorenzo Lamas and his beautiful 4th wife, former Playmate of the Month, Shauna Sand divorced. It seems that Shauna was having an affair…but not just any old affair; she was having an affair with then 18 year old step son, AJ Lamas. After all the years of soap opera acting it appears he has been living a real life one.  A friend says, “He thought Shauna was acting like a mom to AJ, he had no clue that she was his son’s lover!” That has got to be the lowest form of betrayal ever! If you want to see more about this Hollywood family you will get your chance. Lamas and his family, including AJ and daughter Shayne, who was the “winner” on ABC’s “The Bachelor”, as well as Shayne’s sister, Dakota will have their own reality series on E! this fall.  E! just loves the family reality series don’t they?.

Every year just before the NBA playoffs begin, the postseason, the 16-team tournament or “second season”, seems to be sold as a story with plot points at every round and a black and white biopic for every charismatic player or superstar for each remaining team.

After a month prelude that was at times compelling (Celtics-Bulls) and at times uninspired (Mavs-Spurs) the conference finals have finally begun. The Los Angeles Lakers, who won last night thanks to Kobe’s fourth quarter performance, play the Denver Nuggets for the Western Conference title and the Cleveland Cavs play the Orlando Magic for the Eastern Conference title.

As I watch this modern version of basketball I often wonder where the game is going. I wonder how these stars will change the way the game is played and what coaching strategies will make the game look different in an arbitrary date it the near future like 2015.

With a little more than 20 games left to go before the NBA regular season is over it is time to take a look at the stories that are sure to dominate the speculative headlines, features, and blogs.

Last season the trade deadline was a chance to improve a team’s position to try and spoil the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers chances to win an NBA Championship. This season the trade deadline was a chance to collect expiring contracts to put themselves in position to sign an NBA Star in 2010.

The summer of 2010 promises to be one of the best free agent classes in NBA history with a plethora of top tier players becoming unrestricted free agents or having a player option to terminate their contracts and cash in for bigger deals.

This weekend the NBA All Star Game brings together the most popular (not the best) players in the league, a bonanza of sponsorship deals, and 20 hours of useless television coverage. This is truly a corporate retreat run awry. I should not have to listen Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith reflect on their careers as professional basketball players for hours on end just to watch a few events that should take a little more than an two hours to complete.

This weekend was one of extremes. It started with a Sports Illustrated expose that implicated New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez as one of 104 people who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and ended with an NBA match up between two of the best basketball players in a game that did not disappoint.

Subtract a major part of the offense, add an opponent who does not play defense, and what do you get? Kobe Bryant posting 61 points at Madison Square Garden. Bryant hit 19 of 31 shots, including 3 of 6 threes, and sank 20 straight from the stripe. He did not do much else – only three assists, one block, and zero rebounds-, but he did manage to score the most points in basketball’s Mecca history.

Which is rarer, pure greatness or a great center? This question came up after Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel posted the vexing question in anticipation for the Cleveland Cavaliers-Orlando Magic game on Thursday night. Essentially the article was asking what is more valuable to a championship team, a player with pure greatness like LeBron James or a player with an incredible set of skills for a true center?