Flamboyant Dallas Mavericks Owner/ Dot.com Billionaire Mark Cuban was recently indicted by the Feds (SEC) on charges of insider trading. Read SI's take on the charges HERE. The SEC thinks Cuban used some "insider knowledge" to dump some stock before in order to avoid a $750k hit.
Amazingly a large segment of sports talk radio has Cuban's back. Seems they feel that poor Markie is being "picked on" or "targeted" by the SEC because he is a high profile guy. That the SEC is trying to make an "example" of Cuban. I'm not sure why the SEC's motivations are relevant here, but let's assume sports talk radio is correct. My response? So what!?!? Cuban (allegedly) cheated and is (allegedly) guilty. The fact that he is so rich that he didn't need to cheat makes it all that much worse. Why shouldn't the rules apply to Cuban? They should and good for the SEC. To those who defend Cuban: I just don't get you.
Although the jury never even went out, we can now concede that Kobe Bryant is, at the very least, an elegant rapist.
For starters, he is leading the American basketballers in just being plain old sports fans, parading with the other athletes and cheering for Michael Phelps, even going so far as to pose with Phelps' mom and to lead the swim team in cheers. (This is a far cry from one of the early Dream Teams, when Hakeem Olajuwon had to elbow Gary Payton on the medal stand to get him to stop his jawing.)
He is also, let's remember, a tri-lingual American [seriously, there can't be more than about 75 tri-lingual Americans in the entire country], giving interviews to the world press in Italian, Spanish and English. (Even better, he refuses to speak French). This is a remarkable skill, and makes Kobe a remarkably well-rounded athlete who can at least attempt to fend off the perception of American insularity and nativism.
There remains, of course, that weekend on the slopes in Aspen. Whatever happened there (he raped her), he certainly forgot the Cassanova creed of leaving his women contented and wanting more. Perhaps Aspen was truly an aberration for an otherwise good guy; to be on the safe side, Kobe, stay away from the wanna-be ski bunnies while in China.
The Spanish Olympic Basketball Team is pretty good. In fact the team has several NBA players. Here's their team picture (no joke):
Don't worry, there's a reason for the team "slant-eyes" picture. "It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way," Spain's Pau Gasol, center for the Los Angeles Lakers, said. "I'm sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive." The photographer asked them to pose like that, according to Jose Manuel Calderon, a Raptors point guard.
Wait, Gosol is sorry if anyone thought it was offensive. I'm sorry Pau, but that is no apology. You don't get to qualify your apologees. Either you're sorry or you're not. The photo is offensive. Not to mention, stupid, juvenile, etc.
Time for David Stern to tell the NBA players on the Spanish team to apologize. Then he should order them to sensitivity classes or suspension if they don't go. The NBA needs to send a message that that crap don't fly here.
So the Suns season is over. More importantly, it is apparant to all that it is an end of an era. The run-and-gun Suns are probably done. ESPN.com's Bill Simmons has a column that eulogizes the end of the running Suns and sums up why the Suns were so fun and why they weren't more successful. He really hits just about every point and it by far a worthwhile read. Check it out here.
Meanwhile, SI.'s Jack McCallum reported a few days ago that Mike D'Antoni is out as the Suns coach. He should know. He is as close to an "insider" as a news guy can be --having written an outstanding book on the Suns two years ago. D'Antoni doesn't feel "supported" by management (Duh!) and Mgmt isn't happy with D'Antoni's shortcomings as a defensive coach. But GM Steve Kerr denied this, as did D'Antoni (though half-heartedly).
The Republic reports here that the Suns brass (Kerr and Sarver) are meeting w/ D'Anoni and his lawyers today or this weekend. The claim is that nothing has been decided.
So what's going on? Kerr and Sarver are unhappy with D'Antoni and basically forced the Shaq trade on him. D'Antoni is miserable and is not getting much support from his players. But they are meeting, right?
What is really going on is simple. Both sides want to end the relationship. But D'Antoni has a contract and so alot of money is at stake. D'Antoni can't just walk away from that pile of cash. The Suns don't want to pay D'Antoni after they fire him, so they're trying to hound him into quitting. The meeting isn't going to resolve anything. What it might do is lead to a settlement --D'Antoni walks away with a cash settlement. Both sides want this, though neither will admit it. So we get the song and dance crap in the press.
Sarver's parsimony ruined the Suns (See Bill Simmons' article at the link up top). Now his attempt to save money forces everyone to pretend that D'Antoni might stay. It ain't happening. Its a new era for the Suns. Too bad.
Very interesting news reported by Sports Illustrated here. NBA sources say that David Stern (apparantly tired of screwing the Suns out of NBA Title hopes) is planning for a European Division of the NBA in the next few years. Because NBA-style arenas are finally being built in Europe, now is the time to expand. Proper arenas will be available in London, Berlin, Rome, and Madrid and so those will probably 4 of the 5 or 6 teams in the division. Lots of details to be worked out, but given the total mess that is European Pro Basketball, this appears to be a good thing.
Suns fans are furious about today's blockbuster trade between the Suns and the Miami heat for Shaq. Read about the trade on ESPN here.
I'm a long time Suns fan (and partial season ticket holder) and at first I hated this trade. I mean Shaq is going to KILL KILL KILL our cap room with his crazy contract and bad knees. But... As I thought about it I liked it more and more.
Factors: 1. Marion wants to be the Man. He and Amare don't get along and someone has to go. 2. Marion is an amazing athlete, but his skills don't help us much a playoff time. The Spurs just don't give up that many uncontested ally-oops. Marion too often disappears in the playoffs. 3. I was at our last games against Spurs and Hornets (two leaders in the West). In both games we couldn't hold off the other team in crunch time and Amare played the "Ole" defense at Center. Conclusion: WE ARE NOT going to win a championship with this lineup and fastpace offense. 4. Amare HATES playing center and shows it with his lack of effort on defense. A better coach could motivate him, but with what we have now, something has to change. 5. Banks is a good player but is NEVER going to get playing time w/ D'Antoni. We needed to move him and his cap space. I wish him the best in Miami. 6. Marion's cap room is huge (almost as big as shaq's). It would be a mistake to resign him for what he wants. I love watching the guy play but he isn't the difference maker he thinks he is. We'll miss his excellent defense much more than his exciting but inconsistent offense. 7. Shaq is a huge risk. But now we have a chance to win against Dallas/Lakers/Spurs. We are actually going to struggle more against Golden State, but I'm more worried about the teams that knock us out of the playoffs every year.
Conclusion: Take the risk, roll the dice, and do this trade. We aren't going to win with what we have now --our best chance to win it all was two years ago and we came just short. Last year, Stern knocked out our best players so who knows. Let's make this trade so that we have a chance to have the inside presence we need against the Lakers/Hornets/Spurs/Mavs. If it doesn't work we're screwed for years cap-wise. But I think its worth the risk. Amare will be much happier playing power forward and Diaw can play small forward. We still have outstanding guards and we'll still be a solid team. We can't run w/ Shaq so we'll look a bit like the '80s "showtime" Lakers -- four guys running and gunning w/ Kareem (now Shaq) trotting down the court to join the offense if the fast break doesn't work.
My father-in-law has part of a season ticket package for the Phoenix Suns, and so I get to join him for about 7-10 games a year. I know. I'm blessed. We have good seats and the games are a blast. For those who hate the NBA and prefer college hoops, I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe its because I get to see the run-n-gun Suns, but NBA basketball is really fun to watch. [insert hilarious "It's FAN-Tastic!" joke here] The Suns were crushed in the playoffs last year by the evil thuggish Spurs. Okay I actually like the Spurs, but there is no doubt that they were allowed to be way too physical with the Suns. Memo to Bob Horry: KMA! Anyway, the Suns lost their one physical guy (Kurt Thomas) --but that is not all bad because he was slowing us down. The Suns will cruise to 60-65 wins again this year, but its the playoffs that matter. We've added a gimpy Grant Hill --which should help. I love the guy regardless. At Center we have Sean Marks and uh... Brian Skinner as stoppers (and when Amare wants to play forward) and we have the rookie Alando Tucker (from Wisconsin) as our defensive Forward. So, yeah, we aren't exactly going to match up well with the Spurs. But mebbe we won't face them in the playoffs (if we can get Dallas or Utah to do that for us). Shawn Marion is unhappy, but he is in a contract year and is 'top-effort all the time' guy anyway, so he'll be fine. Plus, we still have the amazing Steve Nash. He is the coolest. Despite our playoff woes, I still love the way the Suns play and I think they can stay healthy, this is the year they disprove all the haters who say all out basketball can't work in the playoffs. That said, I still pick the Spurs to win it, but I am hoping for the Suns.
My PIX:
EAST 1. Chicago (will they get Kobe?) 2. Boston (should be a blast to watch) 3. Detroit (they could crash and burn) 4. Miami (not that good) 5. New Jersey (Should be good) 6. Milwaukee (eh....) 7. Cleveland (no surprises this year) 8. Atlanta (Joe Johnson is a baby)
WEST (By far better) 1. Phoenix 2. San Antonio 3. Dallas 4. Denver 5. Utah 6. New Orleans 7. Houston 8. LA Clippers
PLAYOFFS EAST FINALS: Chicago over Boston WEST FINALS: San Antonio over Phoenix
