If you've read this blog, you know all about my hatred towards the National Basketball Association.
Yes, I still watch, but only because it's forced down my throat by the sports powers that be at ESPN.
I still cheer for my Minnesota Timberwolves, despite the fact that they are currently at "Rock Bottom" status and will continue to be until someone other than David $tern is the commissioner.
However, there are still times when I look at the overall product and wonder: "How the hell are we supporting this?"
I've already stated how I think the NBA is second on the fakeness scale behind professional wrestling (and with another positive doping test, Cycling may be making a run towards the top), and how the Me-Me-Me culture has crippled the development of teams, but surprisingly, it's actually gotten worse.
Let's start with the #1 most notable thing in the NBA universe over the summer. I heard that LeBron James was a free agent. I don't know about you guys, but I had no clue.
As we all know, James signed with the Miami Heat after having teams travel to his turf and watch him eat turkey legs on a giant throne and be entertained by such crap as Family Guy cartoons. Eesh.
Well, after all of that James went on national television to announce "The Decision" and everyone went nuts over it. Charles Barkley called it a "punk move" in what was the most publicized comment, but James thought the comment was unfair to him. Why?
Well, this morning, James had an interview with CNN. In the interview, James said (after being asked) whether race played a factor for the criticism of "The Decision." Both James and Maverick Carter, his manager, said that they thought it had something to do with it...
Sigh...LeBron, LeBron, LeBron. If you were white, asian, black, purple, brown, alien, tiger, green, etc. it doesn't change the fact that you STABBED AN ENTIRE CITY IN THE BACK ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!!!!
Jalen Rose was trying to tell me this morning that he was a free agent and could go wherever he wanted. Well no @#$%, Sherlock! That's not the problem at all. When you are an icon of a city and then you go on national TV and give them the middle finger after all the support they've given you, it's a slap in the face.
If LeBron would have taken the route that Kevin Durant took with his contract extension (posting a message on Twitter) nobody would have cared. Would they have been as dissapointed? You bet. But it wasn't him on TV smiling and saying how happy he was going to be leaving Cleveland. Case closed.
Elsewhere in the NBA, teams are now trying to mimic the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and the Los Angeles Lakers by creating super teams. I've chosen to define a super team as a team with 3 or more notable superstars coming together to win a championship "before it's too late."
The Celtics were the first team to do this, and they won a NBA Championship with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. The Lakers, on a smaller scale, formed Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Ron Artest to lead them to a NBA Championship. And now there's the Heat with James, Dewayne Wade, and Chris Bosh.
But this isn't over. The New York Knicks are looking to do the same thing. After clearing a boatload of salary cap space and failing to get LeBron, the Knicks are looking to add to Amare Stoudamire, who they signed in hopes to land James.
But instead, they're looking for players already under contract with their current teams and this is what bothers me.
Chris Paul wants to play on a bigger stage, and that's cool. But he has two years remaining on his contract. I understand that Paul is not Drew Brees in New Orleans, but honor your contract. Paul has gone to management and has demanded a trade and his #1 option: New York.
In Denver, Carmelo Anthony is pitching a temper tantrum. Melo doesn't feel like a superstar because Chauncey Billups is getting all the credit for the Nuggets success the past couple of seasons. So, Melo has demanded a trade....to New York.
What is this? The girls from "My Super Sweet 16" would blush at how childish the NBA Superstars are acting right now. It's ridiculous.
And for the Knicks, how is this NOT tampering? I don't find the Heat's master plan to be tampering, cause this was three guys getting together and wanting to play. But the Knicks seem to have a gravitational pull on both Paul and Anthony. Wonder why?
If this was going on with, say the Timberwolves? Would $tern step in and stop it? Magic 8 Ball Says! All signs point to yes.
So there you have it, while everyone is getting excited about the "most anticipated NBA regular season in history", I think I'll stick with my "see you when you care in April" approach and enjoy watching my Timberwolves. Well, at least try to...
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