Arena The NBA Thread

It is kind of hilarious that the NBA scheduled All - Star Weekend on Jordan's 50th birthday. They had to know this kind of comeback crap was coming from the Jordan camp.

 

well, as far as i know he hasn't actually said anything about it. it was just glover saying something in relation to his HOF speech. more or less, isn't it? i mean, i really don't think he'd do it.

 

Well this is Jordan we're talking about. A man with an ego that really only Kobe can match in the NBA.

 

pfft. not even kobe can match it. he just wishes he could.

 

Irving wins the three-point shootout; fulfills Dan Gilbert's pledge to bring a championship to Cleveland.

 

No Bucks in the All-Star festivities again.

 

epic: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/the-worst-fashion-of-nba-all-star-saturday

 

missed this before. it doesn't get any respect anywhere but associated with a basketball court. at least not in the past few years that i've noticed. no one really comes out and says he's a great human being or anything, but they respective the competitive insanity that pushed him to become what he was. or that might push him to try the unthinkable now.

with what tom said, that he was a shell of his former self that last season with the wizards, that might be true, but he still averaged over 20 PPG, 5 rebounds and nearly 4 assists. that's production that most teams would have taken at the position he was playing unless they had kobe or someone near that level. so while he was a shell, he was still a reasonably productive shell. i still think he could possibly average 15ish points... short term. over the course of a season, i doubt he could last that long.

regardless, it's insane. but that's part of what made jordan MJ. doing the insane and making it somehow work.

 

Ahhh, Kobe & Shaq... brings back so many memories.

 

so they actually ARE friends now? i thought that was just a rumor. a bad one at that.

 

Well I guess with Shaq now retired...

 

(Buss speaks at the 1:14 mark)


It's going be a very emotional, extrospective day out here in Los Angeles & elsewhere throughout the league. Though the Lakers already had a foothold in the NBA/L.A. by the time Buss bought the franchise (in 1979), he very much helped & steered the Lakers onto another level, starting right away (drafting Magic Johnson, despite West's plans to draft Sidney Moncrief), changing the culture of the franchise & league in the 80's, which forever cemented the imprint the Lakers have on the social fabric of Los Angeles. Despite the imperfections & bumps during his ownership, his enthusiasm for the franchise & the city were always a constant. Rest on, Jerry.

 

Now that the All-Star weekend has been endured and is thankfully over, it's time to get back to the business at hand. The Grizzlies were on a roll, with the new additions beginning to gel, and hopefully they keep that going against Detroit.

 

What in the hell? This makes Dennis Rodman's colored head look good.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...laschke-lakers-buss-20130220,0,3130719.column


Perhaps all roads will lead to Jeanine at some point... I just hope things don't get too ugly & crazy along the way.


http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-fyi-20130220,0,4833650.story


Even if they don't end up turning the season around, a win tonight is paramount... it's poetic in a way that the first opponent the Lakers face after Buss' death are the Celtics.

 

If LA can slip in to the playoffs they could take any of the current top teams in the west. The roster is too stacked to not be playing at a high level eventually.

Great tribute to Dr. Buss tonight.

 

uh, have you watched the lakers this year? the roster isn't stacked, it's old, injury prone, and erratic. if they do sneak into the playoffs i would be surprised to see them win a single game.

 

the lakers are dead in the water this year. partially due to their coach, but also because their is like no chemistry on the team, they don't really play defense, and their just old, slow and injury prone now.

 

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...angeles-lakers-make-playoffs-according-report

Obviously he wouldn't say anything different, and it sure would be nice if they can, but I wouldn't bet on it.





There was some nice words said by Kobe* about Dr. Buss before the game, ending in a spotlight shown on Buss' seat in his luxury box, which remained empty throughout the entirety of the night. A win against Boston is always great, but it just meant more last night, and even if the season ends in disaster, at least this win will stand above the rest. Paul Pierce had 20-23 (I forget which) of his 26 points in the 1st half, when it was looking like he was going to have memorable, perhaps a career defining game. It was not to be. Having 6 Lakers score 10+ points was rather niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.






*A memorial service was held for Buss today at the Nokia Theater (which is right across the street from Staples), and though (by nature of something like this) there was some repetitiveness among the speakers, it was a nice, touching service to watch. The speeches made by Johnny Buss (his eldest son), Frank Miriani (his longtime business partner), Jerry West, Phil Jackson & Magic Johnson were particularly emotional. Shaq had a great line in his speech: "He gave me anything I wanted. I wanted 1 extension, he gave it to me. I wanted a second extension, he gave it to me. I wanted a third extension, he traded me."... hehehehe.