Rose will never be the same, but even healthy he’s never going to win an NBA title. My friend Otherwise is a Chicago Bulls fan. I’m a Denver Nuggets fan. So we commiserate sometimes. Back in 2009, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose won the Rookie of the Year award. The next year he was an all-star. And in 2011 he
Read moreThe ABA was an innovator that changed the face of modern basketball. Some of the league’s new ideas survived and made their way into the game we see played today. Here are our six favorite ABA things, in no particular order. 1: The three-point shot. The ABA didn’t invent it – the idea had been around for some time, and
Read moreUS sports leagues reward inferior teams and routinely deny their best teams the championship. Richard Allen Smith and I have argued from time to time about the merits of the BCS vs. the NCAA basketball tournament. Rich defends the BCS, while I point out its unfairness and corruption. He argues that the BCS does (did) a good job at getting
Read moreLet’s review. This was an automatic, on the spot flagrant 2 and ejection. But this – a blindside cheap shot, a two-handed shove and some subsequent manhandling of the ref – earned only a flagrant 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVHPj5J-Jv4 Note that LeBron flopped like a Portuguese midfielder while Hansbrough remained upright. And this flying WWE-style flying elbow from Dwyane Wade was assessed a
Read moreStarmelo is in the news today telling everybody to LEAVE DERRICK ROSE ALONE! “I wish y’all would stop rushing Derrick back,” said Anthony, whose Knicks, winners of 13 straight, play the Bulls on Thursday night. “Please. He shouldn’t come back until he’s about 110 percent ready. I don’t think he should come back if he’s not ready to go out
Read moreWe sports fans love a good “what if?” debate, and there are millions of them. What if Portland had drafted Michael Jordan instead of Sam Bowie? What if Roman Abramovich had left José Mourinho alone instead of meddling? What if Barry “The Asterisk” Bonds hadn’t decided to become a walking pharmaceutical test facility? What if Don Shula had pulled Earl
Read moreI used to be a LeBron fan. Then came The Decision, which annoyed me mightily. It wasn’t that he left Cleveland – he should have left Cleveland – it was the whole spectacle of how he did it. As I explained when it happened, that ESPN special was the moral equivalent of buying time on national TV to break up with
Read moreWant to know who woke up screaming this morning? This guy: Miami, home to one of the NBA’s showpiece franchises, is in deep trouble versus Indiana.
Read moreAbout last night. Here’s what I predicted. Here’s what happened. A few brief comments and then we’ll put it to bed. First, the officials did indeed arrive in a clown car and, as expected, they spent a great deal of time hosing the guys in blue shirts down with seltzer. In the end, though, their performance probably wasn’t much worse
Read moreTonight, the Los Angeles Lakers will square off with the visiting Denver Nuggets in a first-round playoff Game 7 that promises to be crackling with intensity. I’m a big fan of my hometown Nugs and I expect them to bring their A games. I also expect them to lose, no matter what, because however well prepared they are, however brilliant
Read moreI’d like to offer up a theory. Tell me what you think. I’ve written some lately about the NBA, which despite all its flaws is still my favorite North American professional sports league. (My favorite pro league anywhere, of course, is the English Premiership, the greatest soccer league in the world.) In particular, I’ve pondered The League’s structural issues vis
Read moreI predicted months ago that there would be no 2011-12 NBA season. I hoped I was wrong (still do), but there were some fundamental structural issues that I felt were going to be hard to address in the collective bargaining process. While all hope isn’t yet completely dead, it looks very, very bad – so bad that at this stage
Read moreLet’s say you’re a guy and you’ve been involved with a woman. Long-term, committed, exclusive relationship. Several years together. You loved her dearly through the years and she’s simply gaga over you, for reasons none of your friends fully understand. But now, now you’ve realized that it isn’t going to work any longer. Maybe you have different priorities. Maybe you
Read moreTen years ago, at the turn of the millennium, Nostraslammy took a stab at predicting the 21st Century, with a promise to check back every ten years to see how the prognostications were turning out. Odds are good I won’t be able to do a review every ten years until 2100, but I figure I’m probably good through 2030, at
Read moreDisgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who was convicted of two charges related to betting on NBA games (some of which he worked as an official), is out of prison, pimping a new book and telling his story to 60 Minutes and ESPN. What he’s saying, and who’s backing him up, has to be giving NBA Commish David Stern a
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lullaby pit 