Arena The NBA Thread

i had that thing that i think a lot of basketball fans shared, where i liked jordan and was in awe of his talent but still rooted for the bulls to lose. definitely rooted for them against the lakers, because it was the first one plus the lakers, but from then on watching basketball was an exercise in frustration. i'm glad i got to watch jordan play though.

 

You know, prior to the 2016 Cavaliers title, there's no NBA title I celebrated as much as the Dallas victory over Miami in 2011. I think the NBA is uniquely suited to give us "villains" to root against, because of the way a transcendent player / convergence of luck can create a super team/dynasty.

As much as I'm unhappy about it, and hate that the league rules allow them to do what they're doing, I'm going to love rooting against Golden State. I just am. Many of us hated the Heat for similar reasons - it was "unfair" the way they collected three All-Stars, there was "tampering" going on with Riley recruiting Lebron and the three of them agreeing to sign together during the Olympics. But that team was fun to hate. They were cocky, they were arrogant, and they played the heel like Ric Flair. Who can forget the cough mocking that happened in the Finals that year? And when they lost ... it was a grand old time.

And, I don't like James Harden. I don't like the way he plays, and I hate the way he has gamed referees into giving him calls. But, was I cheering for him and his team in games six and seven last year? You bet your ass I was. Would I spend the finals this year cheering the hell out of Philadelphia against Golden State? Damn right. Boston is a line too far, though.

I've seen a lot of posts and comments about how the NBA "needs to fix" what the Warriors are doing. My question is ... what are they going to fix? And how would they fix it?

Are you saying Boogie Cousins shouldn't be allowed to sign with whatever team he wants? That's an end of Free Agency, and I'm not okay with that, and neither should you be. Are you saying NBA Champions shouldn't be allowed to add talent "at a certain level"? Who decides what that level is, and does Cousins apply since he's injured, and would that have applied to Durant since they technically weren't the defending champions when they signed him, but they had won a title just 12 months earlier so maybe it should still count?

At the end of the day, the NBA salary cap rules say the Warriors can extend that Mid-Level Taxpayer Exception to anyone who is a free agent. So you can't blame them for offering it to Boogie. And if no team was offering Boogie more than that, why the hell wouldn't he go to the Warriors?

If you want someone to blame here, blame the NBAPA, who declined to spread out the cap spike over several years and enabled not just the Warriors to add Durant, but several other teams to piss away cap space on terrible contracts. Blame Kevin Durant, who continues to take less than the full max and save his Billionaire owner money, softening the tax bill for paying for Cousins and others (and, really, the Players Association should be furious at Durant - when the #2 player in the world leaves money on the table to "win a title", owners will expect middle of the road and lower tier players to do the same, and it will dampen salaries for the NBA middle and lower class, who the PA should be protecting). Blame Wade/Bosh/James, because their taking of less money to fit a superteam created the blueprint for these Warriors. Blame Kyrie Irving, because his dagger in game seven opened the door to Durant to the Warriors.

But there's nothing, really, to "fix" or a good way to go about it. A hard cap wouldn't do it. A stiffer luxury tax wouldn't do it. And we damn sure shouldn't limit free agency further.

 

good post. like i said, there's really nothing to fix. the spike in the cap was just a flukey thing. if it ever happens again they should spread the increase out over several seasons. hopefully they learned their lesson in that regard, but that's really the only fix. it's too late to do anything about durant. and with cousins you can't blame teams around the league for not wanting to sign a guy of his size and sometimes questionable conditioning coming off one of the most devastating injuries in sports. so what, was the league supposed to block him from joining the warriors even though nobody else wanted him? zach lowe has some pretty good thoughts on it (as usual).

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23979341/zach-lowe-demarcus-cousins-golden-state-warriors-nba

 

Just give me complete control and let me decide who goes where. That's the answer.

I did laugh at epic's post about Boogie blowing the team up from the inside, and there's always the possibility that he's gimpy and useless all season...but those aren't two things that I can feel good about rooting for. Actually, scratch that. I'd love if Boogie blew up the team and created factions and hatred and half the team left. It would be like Shaq and Kobe all over again, which made me laugh like a supervillain. Muah ha ha ha! You fools!

Then we can have more rivalries. Like, Klay secretly hates Steph and wants to challenge him to a three point contest to the death. With the balls actually on fire. And Zap from the American Gladiators shooting tennis balls at them.

 

even as a warriors fan i will second putting you in charge.

 

Can we actually just institute this into all NBA games?

 

Maybe Steph and Klay are injected with explosive devices like in Escape from New York and they have a bucket counter strapped to their wrists. And then they have to rescue President Trump from liberal protesters but they let him die because they don't care.

 

Husband: Isn't Dwight Howard washed up?
Me: Pretty much.
Husband: Then why is this a big deal?
Me: It's the Wizards.

 

Anyway, Lebron had to move to L.A. if he's going to shoot that Space Jam sequel (assuming they shoot in in L.A.) he needs to be nearby. But they'll probably shoot it in L.A. all you need is Lebron + Green Screen.

He was pretty funny in Trainwreck, I'll give him that. Also this gives him a chance to catch Kobie if he can somehow work winning and Oscar in his tenure there. Probably not for the Space Jam sequel, though. Probably.

Yah, Raptors are my team. Well, me and Drake. I bet Drake is pretty happy about Lebron moving now too, he can get some PR millage outta his Raps fandom if they make it to the finals this time.

 

so... everyone freaking out and complaining about boogie to the warriors does actually realize... he's kinda dealing with a potentially career ending injury and there's like zero chance he comes back as the same player? right?

 

Whatevs with the rest of the NBA. I just got to watch part 3 of Paul George's journey.

I wear an OKC #0 jersey quite a lot. I get two reactions from strangers in pubic. #1 I like your jersey. And #2 "You know Russ will never win a championship."

Paul Georege is officially moved up my list of favorite people, not just favorite basketball players. Favorite basketball players:
1) John Starks
2) Russell Westbrook
3) Allen Houston
4) Paul George

 

Let's face it the only Big Three that can beat the Warriors now are these guys:

 

I'm happy the Lakers will be good/relevant enough again to be hated; going to be niiiiice to have meaningful basketball late in the season, and into May... hopefully.

 

Timberwolves sign Derrick Rose.

 

you know... it's sad that the signing of derrick rose means about nothing these days.

 

Did the Lakers sign him to a one year deal???

Edit: Boo! Don't delete it. Now my post makes no sense.

 

It didn't take long for Grayson Allen to continue his punk ways in the NBA.

 

melo to be bought out

teams will want him. question is, is there a team he actually improves? where is the best fit?

 

Either Golden State or Lakers, of course.

 

clippers make sense. he doesn't want to come off the bench or have a limited role like he had with the thunder. at the same time he of course wants to be on a contender. i would say wizards, but i think he might need an actual wizard for both of those conditions to be met.