- I think all good news begins with Twitter; therefore, today shall be a glorious news day as this weekend was seemingly turbulent in NBA Twitter news. One of the NBA’s most prominent experts, John Hollinger, predicted that if Carmelo Anthony ends this upcoming season in a jersey other than the Nuggets’, he’ll end up in the ketchup and mustard of the Houston Rockets thanks to a three-way deal that he hypothesizes would send Aaron Brooks to the Charlotte Bobcats and Erick Dampier’s gigantic non-guaranteed deal to the Nuggets for cap relief. As trivial as this seems, it stands as probably the most realistic Melo/Rockets deal put forth (although he later amended it by saying the Rockets’ draft picks acquired in last year’s deal for Kevin Martin would probably go the way of the rockies as well). While Hollinger’s prediction about Carmelo’s future piqued the interest of a few followers, the man himself caused the Internet to explode via a tweet that appeared to put a bounty out on the head of hip-hop socialite Kat Stacks for some vague reason related to his wife. Though this was eaten up by the exploding Internet, the tweets were later learned to have come as the result of a hacked account. While this may all feel a little ridiculous and seedy to Rockets fans already wary of the culture Anthony could bring this team, it is important to note two things: one, that this had little to do with him. And secondly, the Rockets obviously need more Twitter beefs. Brad Miller, I’m looking at you.
- Kevin Martin seems very satisfied with where he has ended up in this league. He’s back on a winning team, has his first and favorite coach back on his sidelines and even got reunited with his personal Basketball Jesus: “So at the beginning, I would always do everything so fast. I’d be too fast before the cut, during the cut, after the cut. Brad (Miller) would say, “Slow down! You’re faster than everybody out here, but you have to read it!” He showed me the ins and outs of making those cuts and reads — when to come around. Like when a guy plays under you, come around and take the jumper. And when a guy is playing you tight, you just go back door. Brad taught me how to play.
- Oh, and if the Twitter controversy of earlier weren’t Perez-Hilton-esque enough for you, here’s a look at why Anthony might still be guilty of trying to get a woman slapped for a hefty fee. I wonder what Melo might have to say about that.
- In the summer of trade demands, whether they be shocking, hilarious or endlessly enticing, another one has emerged: Jamal Crawford wants to gun next year somewhere other than Atlanta. Crawford, one of the NBA’s last true remaining gunners, who shoots at the rate others exhale, wants a contract extension that the Hawks aren’t willing to give him. Though he is 30, completely one-dimensional and probably not worth that much to Atlanta (who sure decided to figure out age-related frugality a little late), Kelly Dwyer thinks he has value to contending teams in dire need of someone more willing to shoot a basketball than to do just about any other thing in his life: “Because even at his typical, very average, rate, Crawford could still help a team looking to go over the top next season. Provided his shots are kept in check on most nights, this guy can really help a team if he’s utilized properly, as the Hawks did last season. And even if he comes crashing back to earth beyond what we’d expect (JC returning to the ranks of the average), so what? He’s an expiring contract.”
- Eric Freeman unearths a gem, a NBA-centric episode of NBC’s Weakest Link, aired during the halftime of a game in the 2000-01 NBA Finals. While Bill Walton and Baron Davis are both regarded as two of basketball’s more interesting minds, the former seems more burnout than sage, and the latter reminds us how much character is added to a man through a beard.
- In an entirely unrelated note, a very disturbing and tragic story for ESPN the Magazine emphasizes professional sports leagues’ tendency to make moral judgements on players and their capability of playing professional sports. This story is riddled with questions and equivocal language in regards to Tony Washington’s actual crime, but it does not seem to mythologize a monster. Instead, this articles questions exactly what we want out of our sports leagues: the best athletes or the best athletes that we can stomach? In a league where super-talents like J.R. Smith and Lance Stephenson have been accused of doing some pretty outrageous things (though obviously more malicious than Washington’s deed) this summer, these questions will need to be addressed.
- Luis Scola ranks as one of the league’s best players in transition, according to The Dream Shake’s Tom Martin. Only one starting power forward, Lakers all-world pivot Pau Gasol, leads him in points per possession in the fast break. I’d like to see those numbers in relation to his teammates, particularly the split between his time on the court with Lowry and Brooks. Martin also posted a similar article with less exciting results on sophomore Chase Budinger.
- Basketball cards were as much a dominant motif of my early life as the game itself. I somewhat kept up with the hobby from a distance, checking in on its progressively weirder, iconoclastic improvements in technology that left rare pieces of history encased in slivers of cardboard for people who like their basketball embossed and frozen in time; however, I was not prepared for this. Or this. Or this. YouTube has a purpose. This is it. As inane as these and the entirety of this Internet subculture of breaking open card packs for a web camera appears, I must admit: I spent 30 minutes watching these. On a weekend night.
