The shift of power is always in full swing this year. First the Boston Celtics went on a huge run, then it was Cleveland Cavaliers, now it’s the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have beaten both the Celtics and Cavaliers on the road this week, handing LeBron and company their first loss at home this year. As we hand out our twelfth report card, we are flattered that NBA.com is taking a page out of our book.
After starting their road trip 5-0, Kobe and the Lakers are now the team to beat.
A -LeBron James and Kobe Bryant at Madison Square Garden - LeBron and Kobe dazzled thousands at Madison Square Garden and handed the New York Knicks two losses. The night after Kobe scored 61 points, LeBron scored 52, and I think people lost sight of which Knicks they put these numbers up against. These aren’t just any Knicks, these are the Mike D’Antoni Knicks. D’Antoni brought his lauded high-scoring offense with him to New York along with his much criticized defense from Phoenix. D’Antoni’s coaching strategy is to outscore the other team and to score within the first seven seconds of holding the ball on offense. Much like how the league’s stars shined against the Phoenix Suns while under D’Antoni, expect a lot more to have their best games against the Knicks as well. Spike Lee is witnessing front row of the best basketball he’s seen in years at the Garden.
B – Kevin “Lanky” Durant - Kevin Durant is one of those good guys that you hope gets to play on a good team sometime in his career. Although Durant looks like a black version of Andrei Kirilenko, he is a high scoring force to be reckoned with. In the first week of February, Durant is averaging over 33 points a game and over 27 on the year. For a team destined to be one of the worst in NBA history, the Oklahoma City Thunder have played .500 basketball in 2009, and Durant has been the staying force leading the way. There are now two teams comfortably behind the Thunder, the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards. Both are two wins behind the Thunder, which doesn’t sound like much unless you consider they each have only eleven wins for the year.
C – Sacramento Kings Retiring Chris Webber’s Number/Jersey – The Sacramento Kings were nothing more than a mediocre team on the path to nowhere when Chris Webber arrived, which explains preferectly his reluctance to join the team when he was traded there in 1998. What happened in Sacramento from 1998-2003 was nothing short of a miracle, as the Kings ascended to be one of the league’s elite teams. With Webber, Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, Peja Stojakovic, and Jason Williams, the Kings came up one game short of reaching the NBA Finals in 2001. It seems odd that the Kings would retire Webber’s number because he only spent six seasons in Sacramento, but those were their glory years and it seems unlikely they will return to those days anytime soon. On a side note, Webber was charged three times with possession of marijuana and cocaine while with the Kings, that should give Michael Phelps some comfort that stupid people who make asanine decisions can still continue to be praised and referred to as heroes.
D - The Los Angeles Lakers Trading for Adam Morrison – It’s easy to see why both Vladimir Radmanovic and Adam Morrison have fallen out of favor with their respective teams, which makes sense why they were swapped. Radmanovic is a lazy liar (refer to his snowboarding accident), Morrison is a bust in the making (refer to his college days at Gonzaga when he let the waterworks flow after a loss). Along with Morrison, the Los Angeles Lakers got Shannon Brown, another young talent that could be good. In the end this made sense to the Lakers for two reasons, it relieves a little bit of their salary cap, and it makes one of their franchises arch nemesisis Michael Jordan look bad. Jordan was the one that picked Morrison ahead of now shining stars Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy.
F – The Phoenix Suns’ Demise – The Suns have made it known that they are actively accepting trade offers for Shaquille O’Neal and Amar’e Stoudamire. How far the Suns have fallen in just the past two years, they were a Robert Horry hipcheck on Steve Nash from the NBA Finals in 2007 and just as close in previous years when Nash was the league’s MVP. With apparent problems in team chemistry, the Suns swapped Shawn Marion for Shaq last year and this year have shipped Boris Diaw and Raja Bell to Charlotte for Jason Richardson. With Nash very visibly on his way out, along with Shaq, the Suns are aware that their opportunity to win a Championship came and went and now they need to start rebuilding. The first step the Suns are eyeing is getting under the luxury tax for next year by unloading a big contract.
Tags: NBA
February 9th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Very good article. I think that it is ridiculous how these athletes that make stupid and in your words, ‘assanine’, decisions are still referred to as heroes by many people! I love watching sports but I would never consider any athlete my hero and I find it sad how many people do consider athletes to be heroes. But maybe that’s just me…
February 9th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I think the Lakers just proved that they are the best team. The NBA Finals will have to go through L.A.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I miss the days of Michael Jordan. Nobody will ever compare or come close to his greatness. Kobe and LeBron can try. Though this year will definitely be a Laker year. I can’t stand the Lakers!