August 3, 2012
Carmelo Anthony is a fucking beast.

Carmelo Anthony is a fucking beast.

4:54pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxQheulE
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: usa basketball nba olympics london 2012 carmelo anthony kobe bryant lebron james kevin durant russell westbrook kevin lov kevin love james harden andre iguodala chris paul tyson chandler deron williams coach k anthony davis unibrow america swag 
July 13, 2012
My friend posted this on FB.  I think it’s complete BS for a few reasons, but mostly cause they got at least 4 of these match-ups wrong.  Yeah most of the 92 guys had better careers… but that’s cause their careers are over now!  Most of the ‘12 guys are just hitting their primes!  AND some of the 92 guys were nowhere near their primes when they suited up:‘92 Magic over ‘12 Chris Paul: WRONG - Magic had been retired for a year because of HIV, plus had already been declining.  CP3 just made another 1st team All-NBA. ‘92 Pippen over ‘12 Durant: WRONG - Pippen had just come off his 2nd All-Star, 1st All-NBA team (2nd team), 1st All-Defensive 1st team, a distant tie for 3rd in Defensive POY (he got 3 votes), and 9th in MVP voting (1 bizarre 1st place vote). Durant on the other hand, 3rd straight All-Star selection, 3rd straight scoring title (only other people to do this in last 50 years - Chamberlain, Gervin, Jordan), 3rd straight All-NBA 1st team and a 2nd place finish in MVP voting.  ‘92 Bird over ‘12 Westbrook - Where this chart loses all credibility. Bird had just retired because of injury. Westbrook just made 2nd All-NBA and capped it off with an NBA Finals appearance. Like, if ‘92 Bird played ‘12 Westbrook in literally any sport, ‘12 Westbrook would win. Bird was that banged up. ‘92 Stockton over ‘12 Williams - Stock made All 2nd team while DWill whiffed, but isn’t that just cause there’s better PGs now? Stock had to compete with no one (there wasn’t even a PG on the 1st team - what’s that say?) while DWill has CP3, Westbrook and Rondo (not to even mention Rose). I’m taking DWill but that’s cause I’m racist and I pick the tall black guy over the shorter white guy in a basketball game. Also, Isiah Thomas didn’t even make All-NBA this year so who gave a shit that he didn’t make the Dream Team? All of a sudden it’s 6-6.  Plus, if you switch KLove to be matched up with Ewing and Chandler to Robinson (this makes more sense, pairing the starting centers), you can make the case for ‘12 Love over ‘92 Ewing and BAM it’s 7-5 for the new guys.  Just saying.    I’d also like to point out that in July 1992, the US team had a combined 12 rings, but 8 of those came from the washed-up Magic and Bird and the other 4 from MJ and Pippen… who were on the same team. It’s also a dumb metric because if the Thunder had beat the Heat all of a sudden the ‘12 team has 2 extra rings but whatever (none of the ‘12 guys won together), so if we wanna be technical it’s 10-7, and if you remove Bird because he didn’t play in 2/3 of the games anyway, it’s a dead heat (JUST SAYING). Also worth mentioning; in ‘92 the only guys on that team who were LOCKS for the HOF were Magic, Bird and MJ. The ‘12 team you have Kobe and LeBron obviously, but I’d also argue Durant already given that he’s won 3 straight scoring titles and no one who’s done that ever failed to make the hall. For what it’s worth, Bill Simmons in 2010 ranked CP3 one of the 100 greatest players ever as well. 

My friend posted this on FB.  I think it’s complete BS for a few reasons, but mostly cause they got at least 4 of these match-ups wrong.  Yeah most of the 92 guys had better careers… but that’s cause their careers are over now!  Most of the ‘12 guys are just hitting their primes!  AND some of the 92 guys were nowhere near their primes when they suited up:

‘92 Magic over ‘12 Chris Paul: WRONG - Magic had been retired for a year because of HIV, plus had already been declining.  CP3 just made another 1st team All-NBA. 

‘92 Pippen over ‘12 Durant: WRONG - Pippen had just come off his 2nd All-Star, 1st All-NBA team (2nd team), 1st All-Defensive 1st team, a distant tie for 3rd in Defensive POY (he got 3 votes), and 9th in MVP voting (1 bizarre 1st place vote). Durant on the other hand, 3rd straight All-Star selection, 3rd straight scoring title (only other people to do this in last 50 years - Chamberlain, Gervin, Jordan), 3rd straight All-NBA 1st team and a 2nd place finish in MVP voting. 

‘92 Bird over ‘12 Westbrook - Where this chart loses all credibility. Bird had just retired because of injury. Westbrook just made 2nd All-NBA and capped it off with an NBA Finals appearance. Like, if ‘92 Bird played ‘12 Westbrook in literally any sport, ‘12 Westbrook would win. Bird was that banged up. 

‘92 Stockton over ‘12 Williams - Stock made All 2nd team while DWill whiffed, but isn’t that just cause there’s better PGs now? Stock had to compete with no one (there wasn’t even a PG on the 1st team - what’s that say?) while DWill has CP3, Westbrook and Rondo (not to even mention Rose). I’m taking DWill but that’s cause I’m racist and I pick the tall black guy over the shorter white guy in a basketball game. Also, Isiah Thomas didn’t even make All-NBA this year so who gave a shit that he didn’t make the Dream Team? 

All of a sudden it’s 6-6.  Plus, if you switch KLove to be matched up with Ewing and Chandler to Robinson (this makes more sense, pairing the starting centers), you can make the case for ‘12 Love over ‘92 Ewing and BAM it’s 7-5 for the new guys.  Just saying.  

 I’d also like to point out that in July 1992, the US team had a combined 12 rings, but 8 of those came from the washed-up Magic and Bird and the other 4 from MJ and Pippen… who were on the same team. It’s also a dumb metric because if the Thunder had beat the Heat all of a sudden the ‘12 team has 2 extra rings but whatever (none of the ‘12 guys won together), so if we wanna be technical it’s 10-7, and if you remove Bird because he didn’t play in 2/3 of the games anyway, it’s a dead heat (JUST SAYING). 

Also worth mentioning; in ‘92 the only guys on that team who were LOCKS for the HOF were Magic, Bird and MJ. The ‘12 team you have Kobe and LeBron obviously, but I’d also argue Durant already given that he’s won 3 straight scoring titles and no one who’s done that ever failed to make the hall. For what it’s worth, Bill Simmons in 2010 ranked CP3 one of the 100 greatest players ever as well. 

1:16pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxPHDJMT
(Notes: 15)
  
Filed under: nba dream team usa olympics basketball kobe kobe bryant michael jordan 
July 13, 2012

11:21am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxPGrvNo
(Notes: 12)
  
Filed under: nba heat thunder skip bayless lebron james kevin durant lakers kobe bryant lol memes nba memes basketball swag jay-z kanye west watch the throne frank ocean no church in the wild 
July 12, 2012
"You can’t pay me 3 million dollars to stay in Boston. I don’t care that any of the fans in Boston cared about me, because I have felt absolutely no connection to this community over the past five years. I place no value on retiring as a member of the most prestigious franchise in the history of the sport because I am a golf-obsessed egomaniac who is willing to be a bitch for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade entirely to stick it to the men who helped me become an NBA champion after toiling away on mediocre teams for my entire career. I hate Danny Ainge, I hate Doc Rivers, I hate Rajon Rondo. I also am a moron who accidentally sent a pornographic tweet to all my followers and then stopped using Twitter without deleting my account."

— Ray Allen

12:23am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxPB70DB
(Notes: 8)
  
Filed under: Boston Celtics Ray Allen motherfucker cocksucker bitch heat miami nba basketball 
July 3, 2012
Goodbye Ray Allen, HELLO JASON TERRY

Goodbye Ray Allen, HELLO JASON TERRY

3:50pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxOdr3oJ
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: celtics ray allen jason terry nba basketball boston 
June 22, 2012

So Bron Bron finally finished dumping on Cleveland’s chest and got his ring.  Seriously tho, got me thinking about where he ranks all-time on the “greatest NBA players of all time list.” For reference, the Bible (AKA Simmons’ Book of Basketball) has this top 20 as of the end of the 2010 season (players active at end of 2012 in bold).

  1. Michael Jordan
  2. Bill Russell
  3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  4. Magic Johnson
  5. Larry Bird
  6. Wilt Chamberlain
  7. Tim Duncan
  8. Kobe Bryant
  9. Jerry West
  10. Oscar Robertson
  11. Hakeem Olajuwon
  12. Shaquille O’Neal
  13. Moses Malone (cut-off for “the Pantheon”)
  14. John Havlicek
  15. Elgin Baylor
  16. Julius Erving
  17. Bob Pettit
  18. Karl Malone
  19. Charles Barkley
  20. LeBron Jam
Now after the Mavs beat the Heat last year, Simmons went on record saying Dirk was one of the 20 best ever, ironically pushing LeBron out (unless Bron’s ‘11 season was good enough to leap him over Chuck? IDK).  But now, with the last gaping hole on his resume filled, he’s gotta go way up (kind of like how Kobe jumped from 15 to 8 after winning back-to-back titles with LA in ‘09 and ‘10). 
Bron Bron is a 3-time MVP, champion at age 27, and basically the most unstoppable basketball force the league has seen since Shaq in his prime.  He played one of the best postseasons of all time, got his Finals MVP, and was the undisputed best player on a champion.  If he retired today you’d still have to at the very minimum put him right behind Havlicek, although he’s probably fighting with Moses with that 13 spot as much as it pains me to say.  If he sustains this level of play through age 30 (and why wouldn’t he?) I think you gotta shoot him past Shaq and Hakeem and if he wins another ring by the big 3-0 or sooner, he’s got a good case to go over Kobe.  
Realistically I think his ceiling is topping Tim Duncan by the time he retires, but who knows.  The Heat could make the next three Finals, LeBron probably wins an MVP and finishes in the top 2 or 3 every year (and deserves it), and even if they win only 1 or 2 rings, and suddenly he’s better than Magic.  I will say that it’s probably impossible to top Kareem, and that there is absolutely positively no way in Hell that he could ever be better than Bill Russell or Michael Jordan.  
As for Dwyane Wade fuck that guy this ring hurts his legacy cause he played like shit and they won anyway.  
Deuces

12:44pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxNv23ew
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: LeBron james heat nba finals playoffs basketball bill simmons greatest 
June 11, 2012
I have a request for blog post: Ranking the 10 (or so) best white NBA players of all time.  — mikeinaminor I’m not gonna pretend that a lot of my opinions about basketball are HEAVILY informed by Bill Simmons’ bible basketball, The Book of Basketball (which by the way is probably the most entertaining book a basketball fan could ever read).  So I’m gonna give you his top 10, then tweak it based on the seasons that have past since the paperback’s publication and my own differing opinions - which may or may not be justifiable.  10. Kevin McHale (#35 overall) (13 years, 10 qualit, 7 All-Stars… Top 5 (‘87)… All-Defense (6x, three 1st… season leader: FG% (2x)… 2nd-best player on one champ and 2 runners-up; 6th man for 2 other champs… 2-year peak 24-9-3 60% FG… 3-year Playoffs peak 24-9, 59% FG… 3rd-best Playoff FG ever, 100+ games (56.6%)… career: 55% FG (12th) 80% FT) 9. Dave Cowens (#31 overall) (11 years, 8 quality, 7 All-Stars.. ‘73 MVP… ‘75 MVP runner-up… ‘71 Rookie of the Year… Top 10 (‘73, ‘75, ‘76)… All-Defense (2x)… Playoffs 14.4 RPG (5th all-time)… 4-year peak: 20-16-4, 46% FG… 4-year Playoffs peak: 21-16-4 (50 g’s)… best or 2nd-best player on 2 champs, 21-15-4 (36 g’s)… starter for 68-win team) 8. Bill Walton (#27 overall) (10 years, 4 quality, 2 All-Stars… ‘77 Finals MVP… ‘78 MVP, ‘77 runner-up… Top 5 (‘78), Top 10 (‘77)… All-Defense (2x)… leader: rebounds (1x), blocks (1x)… best player on 1 champ, 6th man on 1 champ… ‘77 Playoffs: 18.2 PPG, 15.5 RPG, 5.5 APG, 3.4 BPG 7. Rick Barry (#26 overall) (14 years, 10 quality, 12 All-Stars… ‘75 Finals MVP… Simmons MVP (‘75)… Top 5 NBA (‘66, ‘67, ‘74, ‘75, ‘76), Top 5 ABA (‘69, ‘70, ‘71, ‘72), Top 10 (‘73)… ‘67 All-Star MVP… season leader points (1x), FT% (9x), steals (1x)… best player on 1 champ and runner-up… ‘67 Playoffs: 35-8-4 (15 G); ‘75 Playoffs: 28-6-6, 44% FG, 92% FT (17 G)… 3-Year ABA Playoffs peak: 34-8-4, 49% FG (31 G)… 3-year NBA Playoffs peak: 27-7-6, 45% FG, 91% FT (40 G)… career: 24.8 PPG (13th), 89.3 FT (3rd), 5.1 APG… 25K Point Club 6. John Stockton (#25 overall) (19 years, 10 quality, 10 All-Stars… Top 5 (‘94, ‘95), Top 10 (‘88, 89, ‘90, ‘92, ‘93, ‘96), Top 15 (‘91, ‘97, ‘99)… Playoffs record: most assists (24)… 5-year peak: 16-3-14… leader: assists (9x), steals (2x)… ‘88 Playoffs: 19-4-15 (11 G)… 2nd-best player on 2 runner-ups… Playoffs: 13-10.4, 80% FT (182 G)… missed 22 games total, played 82 games in 17 of 19 seasons… career: assists (1st), games (3rd), steals (1st) 5. Bob Cousy (#21 overall) (13 years, 13 quality, 13 All-Stars… ‘57 MVP… Top 5 (‘52-‘61), Top 10 (‘62, ‘63)… two All-Star MVPs… records: most assists in one half (19), most playoffs FTs made (30)… leader: assists (8x)… 2nd-best player on 6 champs… 3-year Playoffs peak: 20-6-9 (32 G)… career: 18-8-5, 38% FG, 80% FT 4. Bob Pettit (#17 overall) (11 years, 10 quality, 11 All-stars… MVP: ‘56, ‘59… Runner-up” ‘57, ‘61… Top 5 (‘55-‘64), Top 10 (‘65)… ‘55 Rookie of the Year… 4 All-Star MVPs… 3-year peak: 28-18-3… leader: scoring (2x), rebounds (1x)… career: 26.4 PPG (6th), 16.2 RPG (3rd)… Playoffs: 26-15-3 (88 G)… best player on one champ and 3 runners-up… first member of 20K-10K club) 3. John Havlicek (#14 overall) (16 seasons, 13 quality, 13 All-Stars… ‘74 Finals MVP… Top 5 (‘71-‘74), Top 10 (‘64, ‘66, ‘68, ‘69, ‘70, ‘75, ‘76)… All-Defense (8x, five 1st)… 3-year peak: 27-9-8… 4-year Playoffs peak: 27-9-6 (57 G)… leaer: minutes (2x)… most career assists for a nonguard (6,114).. best or 2nd-best player on 4 champs, played for 8 champs (8-0 in Finals)… Playoffs: 22-7-5 (172 G)… career: minutes (10th), points (14th)… 25K Points Club 2. Jerry West (#9 overall) (14 years, 12 quality, 14 All-Stars… ‘69 Finals MVP… Simmons MVP (‘70)… MVP runner-up: ‘66, ‘70, ‘71, ‘72… Top 5 (‘62, ‘63, ‘64, ‘65, ‘66, ‘67, ‘70, ‘71, ‘72, ‘73), Top 10 (‘68, ‘69)… All-Defense (4x)… records: Fts, season; points, Plaoff series… leader: scoring, assists (1x)… career: 27 PPG (5th), 27-7-6, 47% FG, 81% FT… 4-year peak 30-6-6… Playoffs (153 G): 29.3 PPG (3rd)… Finals 30.5 PPG (55 G)… best player on 1 champ, best or 2nd-best player on 8 runner-ups… averaged a 26-5-10 during LA’s 33-game winning streak… 25K Point Club) 1. Larry Bird (#5 overall) (13 years, 10 quality, 12 All-Stars… Finals MVP: ‘84, ‘86… MVP: ‘84-‘86… Simmons MVP (‘81)… runner-up: ‘81, ‘82, ‘83, ‘88… ‘80 Rookie of the Year… Top 5 (‘80-‘88), Top 10 (‘90)… All-Defense (2x)… leader: threes (2x), FT% (4x)… 5-year peak: 28-10-7, 51% FG, 90% FT… 4-year Playoffs peak: 27-10-7, 50% FG, 90% FT (84 G)… ‘84 Finals: 27-14-3… ‘86 Finals: 24-10-10…. ‘87 Playoffs: 27-10-9, 43.9 MGP (23 G)… career: 24-10-6, 50% FG, 88.6 FT% (9th)… highest career APG, forwards (6.1)… Playoffs: 24-10-6.5, 89% FT… best player on 3 champs and 2 runner-ups… member of ‘92 Dream Team… 20K Point Club Solid list for 2010, but if you wanna get riled up about 5 of those guys playing all or most of their primes for the Celtics (Bird, Havlicek, Cousy, Cowens and McHale) and a 6th contributing significantly for them multiple seasons (Walton), fair enough.  The other white guys in the top 50 are Steve Nash (#36, 1 slot below McHale), George Mikan (#38), Dirk Nowitzki (#39), Dave DeBusschere (#46), and Billy Cunningham (#49).  If you wanna count half of Jason Kidd, he’s #42.   Now, after the 2011 NBA Finals, Simmons went on the record calling Dirk Nowitzki one of the top 20 players of all time (LeBron James is #20 in the book.  LOL!).  I agree - Dirk’s performance throughout the 2011 NBA Playoffs was unbelievable and as time goes on it’ll become more and more legendary.   I do have beef with Bob Pettit so high, though.  Sure, he was dominant in his time, but for most of the time BLACK PEOPLE DIDN’T PLAY IN THE NBA.  This pisses me off for a number of reasons; yeah, he still played well as more and more black guys joined, but he was a horrible racist.  Why does this matter?  For one, racism of players obviously did nothing to speed up the integration process; and two, HIS TEAM DRAFTED BILL RUSSELL AND TRADED HIM TO THE CELTICS FOR WHITE GUYS.  How much of this was due to the racism of the team, led by Pettit?  I don’t know.  But they spent most of the following decade (and the rest of Pettit’s career) getting their brains bashed in by Russell and the Celtics, in their good years.  He only won one title, which is especially hurtful considering he had his chance in the all-white era.  Oh yeah, that was the one year between ‘57 and ‘66 that Russell’s Celtics didn’t win it all.  Cause Russell was hurt.  In what now seems like the most obvious benefit of not being racist ever, the Celtics became the greatest sports dynasty of the past 60 years because they were the first to fully embrace African-Americans on the team.  See kids?  Racism is bad even if you’re a totally selfish prick.  There’s also some minor things that need addressing: McHale over Cowens doesn’t make sense to me given how much better the NBA was during McHale’s time (there was no ABA), his extra ring, his better stats, and his status as maybe the best post player of all time.  He also cut short his own career by playing on a BROKEN FOOT in the ‘87 playoffs, while Cowens cut his own career short temporarily by retiring and becoming a cab driver for a little while.  McHale also gets bonus points for basically inventing the modern concept of the 6th man.  So yeah… still don’t get what was going on here in Simmons’ head.   The question of Walton is big.  Walton was basically one of the most dominant players of all time for about two years, but then he got hurt and never was the same.  How does that compare to someone like John Stockton, who was never close to being the best player in the league at any time but was very very good for an amazingly long period?  Simmons kind of equivocates here… he puts Walton higher than guys like David Robinson because he’d rather have the peak, but then he puts him lower than Stockton. My feeling is this: when we judge a player’s greatness, we need to focus on his peak, rewarding players with greater longevity only when the respective peaks are similar in quality.  For example, Magic over Bird.  In Simmons’ words, Walton at his peak “guaranteed you a championship,” while Stockton, despite his consistency never even won one.  As for Rick Barry, he never lost his talent but made stupid ass decisions that hurt his team, while Walton proved to be one of the greatest teammates of all time on the ‘86 Celtics.  If Barry suffers a crippling injury in his 4th year, this discussion never even happens.  So without further ado…  THE TOP 10 GREATEST WHITE GUYS IN NBA HISTORY: 10. Kevin McHale - Maybe I’m a bit biased because he traded the C’s KG for a giant pile of dog shit 9. John Stockton - I remember watching him play, but I also remember rooting against him very hard because he was going against Michael Jordan and I was 7 and that’s who you rooted for when you were 7 8. Rick Barry - Even if he was a prick, he still had the numbers and a ring 7. Bill Walton - Even if it was for less time, I’d rather this guy on my team than the last two 6. Bob Pettit - Still think he’s a dirty racist, but how much can you penalize one of the Top 5 Players of an era? 5. Bob Cousy - Invented the fast break, one of the NBA’s first superstars, and oh yeah, won a shitload of titles for the Celtics 4. Dirk Nowitzki - Doesn’t have as many rings as some of the other guys, but he also didn’t have Bill Russell or Larry Bird on his squad.  Plus, HE BEAT THE HEAT.  3. John Havlicek - 8 rings, great teammate, and his numbers are nucking futs.  Still the C’s all-time leader in points. 2. Jerry West - It’s usually pointless to play what-if’s because there’s so many outside factors, but Bill Russell denied this guy like 7 more rings.  If Russell never came into the league, it’s possible that West would be remember as the consummate winner instead.  He also had baller numbers.  AND… he’s the NBA logo! 1. Brian Scalabrine - The greatest teammate in the history of sports, and the one and only factor driving the C’s ‘08 title run and Derrick Rose’s MVP Award. Just Kidding. 1. Larry Bird - Is anyone in the world going to argue this?   Deuces

I have a request for blog post: Ranking the 10 (or so) best white NBA players of all time. 

I’m not gonna pretend that a lot of my opinions about basketball are HEAVILY informed by Bill Simmons’ bible basketball, The Book of Basketball (which by the way is probably the most entertaining book a basketball fan could ever read).  So I’m gonna give you his top 10, then tweak it based on the seasons that have past since the paperback’s publication and my own differing opinions - which may or may not be justifiable. 

10. Kevin McHale (#35 overall) (13 years, 10 qualit, 7 All-Stars… Top 5 (‘87)… All-Defense (6x, three 1st… season leader: FG% (2x)… 2nd-best player on one champ and 2 runners-up; 6th man for 2 other champs… 2-year peak 24-9-3 60% FG… 3-year Playoffs peak 24-9, 59% FG… 3rd-best Playoff FG ever, 100+ games (56.6%)… career: 55% FG (12th) 80% FT)

9. Dave Cowens (#31 overall) (11 years, 8 quality, 7 All-Stars.. ‘73 MVP… ‘75 MVP runner-up… ‘71 Rookie of the Year… Top 10 (‘73, ‘75, ‘76)… All-Defense (2x)… Playoffs 14.4 RPG (5th all-time)… 4-year peak: 20-16-4, 46% FG… 4-year Playoffs peak: 21-16-4 (50 g’s)… best or 2nd-best player on 2 champs, 21-15-4 (36 g’s)… starter for 68-win team)

8. Bill Walton (#27 overall) (10 years, 4 quality, 2 All-Stars… ‘77 Finals MVP… ‘78 MVP, ‘77 runner-up… Top 5 (‘78), Top 10 (‘77)… All-Defense (2x)… leader: rebounds (1x), blocks (1x)… best player on 1 champ, 6th man on 1 champ… ‘77 Playoffs: 18.2 PPG, 15.5 RPG, 5.5 APG, 3.4 BPG

7. Rick Barry (#26 overall) (14 years, 10 quality, 12 All-Stars… ‘75 Finals MVP… Simmons MVP (‘75)… Top 5 NBA (‘66, ‘67, ‘74, ‘75, ‘76), Top 5 ABA (‘69, ‘70, ‘71, ‘72), Top 10 (‘73)… ‘67 All-Star MVP… season leader points (1x), FT% (9x), steals (1x)… best player on 1 champ and runner-up… ‘67 Playoffs: 35-8-4 (15 G); ‘75 Playoffs: 28-6-6, 44% FG, 92% FT (17 G)… 3-Year ABA Playoffs peak: 34-8-4, 49% FG (31 G)… 3-year NBA Playoffs peak: 27-7-6, 45% FG, 91% FT (40 G)… career: 24.8 PPG (13th), 89.3 FT (3rd), 5.1 APG… 25K Point Club

6. John Stockton (#25 overall) (19 years, 10 quality, 10 All-Stars… Top 5 (‘94, ‘95), Top 10 (‘88, 89, ‘90, ‘92, ‘93, ‘96), Top 15 (‘91, ‘97, ‘99)… Playoffs record: most assists (24)… 5-year peak: 16-3-14… leader: assists (9x), steals (2x)… ‘88 Playoffs: 19-4-15 (11 G)… 2nd-best player on 2 runner-ups… Playoffs: 13-10.4, 80% FT (182 G)… missed 22 games total, played 82 games in 17 of 19 seasons… career: assists (1st), games (3rd), steals (1st)

5. Bob Cousy (#21 overall) (13 years, 13 quality, 13 All-Stars… ‘57 MVP… Top 5 (‘52-‘61), Top 10 (‘62, ‘63)… two All-Star MVPs… records: most assists in one half (19), most playoffs FTs made (30)… leader: assists (8x)… 2nd-best player on 6 champs… 3-year Playoffs peak: 20-6-9 (32 G)… career: 18-8-5, 38% FG, 80% FT

4. Bob Pettit (#17 overall) (11 years, 10 quality, 11 All-stars… MVP: ‘56, ‘59… Runner-up” ‘57, ‘61… Top 5 (‘55-‘64), Top 10 (‘65)… ‘55 Rookie of the Year… 4 All-Star MVPs… 3-year peak: 28-18-3… leader: scoring (2x), rebounds (1x)… career: 26.4 PPG (6th), 16.2 RPG (3rd)… Playoffs: 26-15-3 (88 G)… best player on one champ and 3 runners-up… first member of 20K-10K club)

3. John Havlicek (#14 overall) (16 seasons, 13 quality, 13 All-Stars… ‘74 Finals MVP… Top 5 (‘71-‘74), Top 10 (‘64, ‘66, ‘68, ‘69, ‘70, ‘75, ‘76)… All-Defense (8x, five 1st)… 3-year peak: 27-9-8… 4-year Playoffs peak: 27-9-6 (57 G)… leaer: minutes (2x)… most career assists for a nonguard (6,114).. best or 2nd-best player on 4 champs, played for 8 champs (8-0 in Finals)… Playoffs: 22-7-5 (172 G)… career: minutes (10th), points (14th)… 25K Points Club

2. Jerry West (#9 overall) (14 years, 12 quality, 14 All-Stars… ‘69 Finals MVP… Simmons MVP (‘70)… MVP runner-up: ‘66, ‘70, ‘71, ‘72… Top 5 (‘62, ‘63, ‘64, ‘65, ‘66, ‘67, ‘70, ‘71, ‘72, ‘73), Top 10 (‘68, ‘69)… All-Defense (4x)… records: Fts, season; points, Plaoff series… leader: scoring, assists (1x)… career: 27 PPG (5th), 27-7-6, 47% FG, 81% FT… 4-year peak 30-6-6… Playoffs (153 G): 29.3 PPG (3rd)… Finals 30.5 PPG (55 G)… best player on 1 champ, best or 2nd-best player on 8 runner-ups… averaged a 26-5-10 during LA’s 33-game winning streak… 25K Point Club)

1. Larry Bird (#5 overall) (13 years, 10 quality, 12 All-Stars… Finals MVP: ‘84, ‘86… MVP: ‘84-‘86… Simmons MVP (‘81)… runner-up: ‘81, ‘82, ‘83, ‘88… ‘80 Rookie of the Year… Top 5 (‘80-‘88), Top 10 (‘90)… All-Defense (2x)… leader: threes (2x), FT% (4x)… 5-year peak: 28-10-7, 51% FG, 90% FT… 4-year Playoffs peak: 27-10-7, 50% FG, 90% FT (84 G)… ‘84 Finals: 27-14-3… ‘86 Finals: 24-10-10…. ‘87 Playoffs: 27-10-9, 43.9 MGP (23 G)… career: 24-10-6, 50% FG, 88.6 FT% (9th)… highest career APG, forwards (6.1)… Playoffs: 24-10-6.5, 89% FT… best player on 3 champs and 2 runner-ups… member of ‘92 Dream Team… 20K Point Club

Solid list for 2010, but if you wanna get riled up about 5 of those guys playing all or most of their primes for the Celtics (Bird, Havlicek, Cousy, Cowens and McHale) and a 6th contributing significantly for them multiple seasons (Walton), fair enough.  The other white guys in the top 50 are Steve Nash (#36, 1 slot below McHale), George Mikan (#38), Dirk Nowitzki (#39), Dave DeBusschere (#46), and Billy Cunningham (#49).  If you wanna count half of Jason Kidd, he’s #42.  

Now, after the 2011 NBA Finals, Simmons went on the record calling Dirk Nowitzki one of the top 20 players of all time (LeBron James is #20 in the book.  LOL!).  I agree - Dirk’s performance throughout the 2011 NBA Playoffs was unbelievable and as time goes on it’ll become more and more legendary.  

I do have beef with Bob Pettit so high, though.  Sure, he was dominant in his time, but for most of the time BLACK PEOPLE DIDN’T PLAY IN THE NBA.  This pisses me off for a number of reasons; yeah, he still played well as more and more black guys joined, but he was a horrible racist.  Why does this matter?  For one, racism of players obviously did nothing to speed up the integration process; and two, HIS TEAM DRAFTED BILL RUSSELL AND TRADED HIM TO THE CELTICS FOR WHITE GUYS.  How much of this was due to the racism of the team, led by Pettit?  I don’t know.  But they spent most of the following decade (and the rest of Pettit’s career) getting their brains bashed in by Russell and the Celtics, in their good years.  He only won one title, which is especially hurtful considering he had his chance in the all-white era.  Oh yeah, that was the one year between ‘57 and ‘66 that Russell’s Celtics didn’t win it all.  Cause Russell was hurt.  In what now seems like the most obvious benefit of not being racist ever, the Celtics became the greatest sports dynasty of the past 60 years because they were the first to fully embrace African-Americans on the team.  See kids?  Racism is bad even if you’re a totally selfish prick. 

There’s also some minor things that need addressing: McHale over Cowens doesn’t make sense to me given how much better the NBA was during McHale’s time (there was no ABA), his extra ring, his better stats, and his status as maybe the best post player of all time.  He also cut short his own career by playing on a BROKEN FOOT in the ‘87 playoffs, while Cowens cut his own career short temporarily by retiring and becoming a cab driver for a little while.  McHale also gets bonus points for basically inventing the modern concept of the 6th man.  So yeah… still don’t get what was going on here in Simmons’ head.  

The question of Walton is big.  Walton was basically one of the most dominant players of all time for about two years, but then he got hurt and never was the same.  How does that compare to someone like John Stockton, who was never close to being the best player in the league at any time but was very very good for an amazingly long period?  Simmons kind of equivocates here… he puts Walton higher than guys like David Robinson because he’d rather have the peak, but then he puts him lower than Stockton. My feeling is this: when we judge a player’s greatness, we need to focus on his peak, rewarding players with greater longevity only when the respective peaks are similar in quality.  For example, Magic over Bird.  In Simmons’ words, Walton at his peak “guaranteed you a championship,” while Stockton, despite his consistency never even won one.  As for Rick Barry, he never lost his talent but made stupid ass decisions that hurt his team, while Walton proved to be one of the greatest teammates of all time on the ‘86 Celtics.  If Barry suffers a crippling injury in his 4th year, this discussion never even happens.  So without further ado… 

THE TOP 10 GREATEST WHITE GUYS IN NBA HISTORY:

10. Kevin McHale - Maybe I’m a bit biased because he traded the C’s KG for a giant pile of dog shit

9. John Stockton - I remember watching him play, but I also remember rooting against him very hard because he was going against Michael Jordan and I was 7 and that’s who you rooted for when you were 7

8. Rick Barry - Even if he was a prick, he still had the numbers and a ring

7. Bill Walton - Even if it was for less time, I’d rather this guy on my team than the last two

6. Bob Pettit - Still think he’s a dirty racist, but how much can you penalize one of the Top 5 Players of an era?

5. Bob Cousy - Invented the fast break, one of the NBA’s first superstars, and oh yeah, won a shitload of titles for the Celtics

4. Dirk Nowitzki - Doesn’t have as many rings as some of the other guys, but he also didn’t have Bill Russell or Larry Bird on his squad.  Plus, HE BEAT THE HEAT. 

3. John Havlicek - 8 rings, great teammate, and his numbers are nucking futs.  Still the C’s all-time leader in points.

2. Jerry West - It’s usually pointless to play what-if’s because there’s so many outside factors, but Bill Russell denied this guy like 7 more rings.  If Russell never came into the league, it’s possible that West would be remember as the consummate winner instead.  He also had baller numbers.  AND… he’s the NBA logo!

1. Brian Scalabrine - The greatest teammate in the history of sports, and the one and only factor driving the C’s ‘08 title run and Derrick Rose’s MVP Award.

Just Kidding.

1. Larry Bird - Is anyone in the world going to argue this?  

Deuces

11:19pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxNE2paO
(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: Celtics NBA white guys swag Jerry West Larry Bird Bill Simmons John Havlicek Bill Walton Rick Barry Lakers Warriors Los Angeles Kevin McHale Dave Cowens Steve Nash Jason Kidd Dirk Nowitzki Bob Cousy 
June 8, 2012
Regarding Game 7 Let me start off by saying that I just read Bill Simmons’ “The Consequences of Caring” on Grantland and I probably wouldn’t have bothered thinking about last night again if it wasn’t for that article.  It’s a great read, but the problem with reading Bill Simmons as a Celtics fan under age 30 is he can’t go three paragraphs without comparing everything to the teams from the 70’s and 80’s.  So no matter how much the 2012 Celtics “mean” to him, or Bob Ryan, or your dad, it’s a different meaning than what it means to those of us too young to have seen Larry Bird play.  Seeing as I consider myself the best sportswriter in the country under 25 (just like every other guy my age), I think it’s worth taking the time to analyze exactly what the fuck is going on right now and what it all means.  It’ll help me sleep better tonight at the very least… because there is reason for hope.  Right? Obviously the negatives here are huge.  LeBron James had what I would call the greatest basketball performance I’ve ever seen.  He singlehandedly put his team on his back in the most pressure-filled position any player has ever found himself, ever, and simultaneously annihilated the entire city of Boston’s self-confidence before the start of the third quarter.  Not just the players, who couldn’t buy a bucket.  Not just the crowd, who couldn’t have been more shocked.  But everyone watching that game and rooting for the Celtics.  It was like how Geraldo felt when there was nothing in Al Capone’s vault, except if Geraldo had a soul. Making it even worse was Paul Pierce having the worst game of his life.  Not just career, I’m talking life.  6th Grade Paul Pierce would’ve been ashamed of Yesterday Paul Pierce.  And if you can go home and cuddle with your Larry Bird memories to make yourself feel better, that’s nice, but like I said, I don’t have Larry Bird.  We’ve been spoiled the past decade with Brady, Belichick, Manny, Papi, Garnett, Allen and Rondo, but for kids my age growing up, Pierce is the last man standing from the 90’s AKA “the decade when your dad would just tell you about how much better the 80’s were.”  To watch him put up such an offensive stinkbomb was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life.   If you’re still reading obviously you don’t need to hear this, but I fucking HATE people who act like sports don’t matter.  I can’t even respect people like that.  Cause as far as I can see, especially in the Boston area, sports bring us together as a community and provide us with role models and motivation more so than basically anything else.  I’ve lost track of how many times my lazy ass has thought about Tom Brady getting drafted #199 then working his butt off to prove everyone wrong, and then hunkered down and put in the extra effort to snag an A in a class I had no business doing well in.  Or Big Papi and the Sox coming back from 0-3 in 2004 when I felt like there was no way I could get something far less difficult done.  And the 2008 Celtics?  There’s no better proof that if you’re stuck in a shitty situation, if you stick with it, you might find a little bit of luck and see the whole thing turn on its head in the blink of an eye.  So yeah, sports fucking matter.  Anyway, I find it remarkable that this shit is happening only four months after the Pats lost to the Giants… again.  It’s the same in many ways, but in other ways, it’s not.  It’s cause the Pats, Brady and Belichick, were supposed to be the single most reliable thing in an otherwise chaotic world.  Every 7 days during football season, with rare and unimportant exception, the Pats win.  When they lost the first Super Bowl, a lot of my childhood illusions like true love and world peace, died.  The missed chance to right the universe and restore my innocence was crushing.  But the Celtics are different.  People don’t expect the Celtics to win.  Rooting for the Patriots is believing in the possibility of perfection.  Rooting for the C’s ever since 09 has been rooting against the expectations of others.  Big difference.  So when the C’s pulled in Game 5 and shocked everyone but us, we naturally assumed that good had triumphed over evil and Game 6 would be a walkover.  But it hadn’t, and it wasn’t.   Now, order has seemingly restored itself.  LeBron is too good, the Celtics are too old, and the Heat are going to win Game 7 comfortably and go onto the Finals.  And you know what?  Good.  That’s what I want everyone to think.  Because the Celtics are going to go down to Miami, and they’re gonna win one of the ugliest, gutsiest games we’ll ever see.  Just don’t tell anyone until it happens.  They need to be wrong for us to prove them wrong.   Deuces 

Regarding Game 7

Let me start off by saying that I just read Bill Simmons’ “The Consequences of Caring” on Grantland and I probably wouldn’t have bothered thinking about last night again if it wasn’t for that article.  It’s a great read, but the problem with reading Bill Simmons as a Celtics fan under age 30 is he can’t go three paragraphs without comparing everything to the teams from the 70’s and 80’s.  So no matter how much the 2012 Celtics “mean” to him, or Bob Ryan, or your dad, it’s a different meaning than what it means to those of us too young to have seen Larry Bird play. 

Seeing as I consider myself the best sportswriter in the country under 25 (just like every other guy my age), I think it’s worth taking the time to analyze exactly what the fuck is going on right now and what it all means.  It’ll help me sleep better tonight at the very least… because there is reason for hope.  Right?

Obviously the negatives here are huge.  LeBron James had what I would call the greatest basketball performance I’ve ever seen.  He singlehandedly put his team on his back in the most pressure-filled position any player has ever found himself, ever, and simultaneously annihilated the entire city of Boston’s self-confidence before the start of the third quarter.  Not just the players, who couldn’t buy a bucket.  Not just the crowd, who couldn’t have been more shocked.  But everyone watching that game and rooting for the Celtics.  It was like how Geraldo felt when there was nothing in Al Capone’s vault, except if Geraldo had a soul.

Making it even worse was Paul Pierce having the worst game of his life.  Not just career, I’m talking life.  6th Grade Paul Pierce would’ve been ashamed of Yesterday Paul Pierce.  And if you can go home and cuddle with your Larry Bird memories to make yourself feel better, that’s nice, but like I said, I don’t have Larry Bird.  We’ve been spoiled the past decade with Brady, Belichick, Manny, Papi, Garnett, Allen and Rondo, but for kids my age growing up, Pierce is the last man standing from the 90’s AKA “the decade when your dad would just tell you about how much better the 80’s were.”  To watch him put up such an offensive stinkbomb was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life.  

If you’re still reading obviously you don’t need to hear this, but I fucking HATE people who act like sports don’t matter.  I can’t even respect people like that.  Cause as far as I can see, especially in the Boston area, sports bring us together as a community and provide us with role models and motivation more so than basically anything else.  I’ve lost track of how many times my lazy ass has thought about Tom Brady getting drafted #199 then working his butt off to prove everyone wrong, and then hunkered down and put in the extra effort to snag an A in a class I had no business doing well in.  Or Big Papi and the Sox coming back from 0-3 in 2004 when I felt like there was no way I could get something far less difficult done.  And the 2008 Celtics?  There’s no better proof that if you’re stuck in a shitty situation, if you stick with it, you might find a little bit of luck and see the whole thing turn on its head in the blink of an eye.  So yeah, sports fucking matter. 

Anyway, I find it remarkable that this shit is happening only four months after the Pats lost to the Giants… again.  It’s the same in many ways, but in other ways, it’s not.  It’s cause the Pats, Brady and Belichick, were supposed to be the single most reliable thing in an otherwise chaotic world.  Every 7 days during football season, with rare and unimportant exception, the Pats win.  When they lost the first Super Bowl, a lot of my childhood illusions like true love and world peace, died.  The missed chance to right the universe and restore my innocence was crushing. 

But the Celtics are different.  People don’t expect the Celtics to win.  Rooting for the Patriots is believing in the possibility of perfection.  Rooting for the C’s ever since 09 has been rooting against the expectations of others.  Big difference.  So when the C’s pulled in Game 5 and shocked everyone but us, we naturally assumed that good had triumphed over evil and Game 6 would be a walkover.  But it hadn’t, and it wasn’t.  

Now, order has seemingly restored itself.  LeBron is too good, the Celtics are too old, and the Heat are going to win Game 7 comfortably and go onto the Finals.  And you know what?  Good.  That’s what I want everyone to think.  Because the Celtics are going to go down to Miami, and they’re gonna win one of the ugliest, gutsiest games we’ll ever see.  Just don’t tell anyone until it happens.  They need to be wrong for us to prove them wrong.  

Deuces 

4:31pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxN08A7e
(Notes: 5)
  
Filed under: Celtics Boston Paul Pierce The Truth NBA game 7 real talk 
June 6, 2012
THAT’S WHAT I’M FUCKIN’ TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!  THAT’S THE FUCKING TRUTH!!!!!!!

THAT’S WHAT I’M FUCKIN’ TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!  THAT’S THE FUCKING TRUTH!!!!!!!

12:16am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxMrafIr
(Notes: 12)
  
Filed under: celtics Boston Pierce Paul Pierce swag Rondo Kevin Garnett Rajon Rondo Ray Allen MIami Heat NBA basketball 
June 5, 2012
If you’re rooting for the Miami Heat tonight, you’ve probably never been doubted, criticized or told you weren’t good enough.  You’ve probably had someone present you with an easy way out of a tough situation, instead of working your way through it.  You’ve probably never understood the difference between a group of individuals and a team.  And tonight, you’re probably going to lose. 

If you’re rooting for the Miami Heat tonight, you’ve probably never been doubted, criticized or told you weren’t good enough.  You’ve probably had someone present you with an easy way out of a tough situation, instead of working your way through it.  You’ve probably never understood the difference between a group of individuals and a team. 

And tonight, you’re probably going to lose. 

8:28pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxMqhKy-
(Notes: 20)
  
Filed under: Celtics Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Ray Allen Boston Rajon Rondo NBA basketball Miami Heat LeBron James Heat Dwyane Wade Chris Bosh inspirational speech PREACH Doc Rivers 
May 22, 2012
Nananana, nananana, hey hey hey, goodbye! Seriously though, there’s like a 0.00001% chance that Pao Gasol plays for the Lakers next year.  Never seen a dude’s confidence so shattered in my life

Nananana, nananana, hey hey hey, goodbye!

Seriously though, there’s like a 0.00001% chance that Pao Gasol plays for the Lakers next year.  Never seen a dude’s confidence so shattered in my life

1:01am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxLwVCDX
(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: Lakers Kobe Bryant Pao Gasol swag Boston Celtics NBA playoffs 
May 18, 2012
LONG RAMBLING POST ABOUT HOW THESE NBA PLAYOFFS WILL AFFECT EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE TOP 100 NBA PLAYERS OF ALL TIME DISCUSSION  This is obviously premature, but what’s the point of speculating after the fact?  That’s no fun.  This is pretty self-explanatory; how does the legacy every player currently still playing in the 2012 NBA Playoffs change based on the outcome?  For the record, here are the players “definitely already in” or “probably on their way in” to the Top 100 Players in NBA History: Spurs: Tim Duncan (def.), Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker (on their way) Clippers: Chris Paul (def.) Thunder: Kevin Durant (on his way) Lakers: Kobe (def.), Pao Gasol (on his way) Celtics: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen (def.), Rajon Rondo (on his way) Heat: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (def.) (The Pacers have no one who sniffs this discussion right now but ironically are probably the favorites in the East with a 3-seed, home court, a 2-1 lead and Bosh out.  Ironic) Tim Duncan: If the Spurs win it all this year, and they look like the overwhelming favorites, we have to have the uncomfortable “Is Tim Duncan one of the 5 best players of all time?” conversation, which is also the uncomfortable “He is better than at least 2 of these 3: Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson” consequence.  Look at what his resume would be: Best player on 5 championship teams (nobody besides Michael Jordan and Bill Russell can unequivocally boast that)  Best player on championship teams 13 years apart (nobody besides Russell or Kareem has that longevity) An incredible stretch of durability that saw him miss more than 10 games only twice and more than 20 NEVER.  WHAT???? Offensive and defensive statistical dominance coupled with stable leadership that made him the best player of the NBA’s fourth dynasty (dynasty: team that won 5 titles within 15 years with the same nucleus; the other three?  Russell’s Celtics, Magic/Kareem’s Lakers and Jordan’s Bulls.  Wow.) I think given these stats, it’s very hard to argue against Duncan as the #4 player of all time behind MJ (untouchable #1), Russell (greatest winner, leader and defensive player of all time) and Kareem (6 titles + MVPs, second best scorer of all time after MJ).  Manu Ginobili: With the way he’s playing and his career, a Spurs title would solidify him as the Kevin McHale of this generation, except a guard.  Tony Parker: Likewise, he’s not the leader of the Spurs but there’s a GIANT drop off in talent after him on the roster.  I’d argue he’s more important to the Spurs than Parish was to the C’s or Worthy to the Showtime Lakers. He and Manu definitely make it into Top 100 all time with a title this year.  Chris Paul: I don’t think this season really helps or hurts CP3’s legacy much if the Clips keep getting smacked around by a superior Spurs team.  However, he needs to play much better in Games 3 and 4 (and any others) to make people forget about the absolute shit sandwich he put up in San Antonio. His legacy will be defined by how far he and Blake can take the Clips with a decent coach and a more experienced team in the coming years.   Kevin Durant: If this dude wins a title this year, his career is already better than DWade’s right?  IDK how you argue against that.  He’s a better scorer, accomplished more at a younger age, was ALWAYS the best player on his team (unlike Wade, who never was except for those years between Shaq and LeBron when Miami SUCKED) and is much more durable.  I’d bet good money that if he puts up similar regular season numbers next year after winning a title, he’s a lock for MVP.  Even a Finals loss or a WCF defeat to the Spurs would solidify his place in the Top 100 already, and I’d argue ahead of CP3, especially with his evisceration of Kobe’s Lakers (speaking of which…)  Kobe Bryant: Shaq loves this.  Kobe blew Game 2.  Not the Lakers.  Kobe.  If they get swept out 2 years in a row (or even just 2 straight second round losses), Kobe looks shitty.  Yeah he won back-to-back titles without Shaq, but you know who’s to thank for that?  Kevin Garnett for getting injured in 2009 (before he went down, those Celtics were playing significantly better than the team that throttled Kobe the year before) and Kendrick Perkins for missing Game 7 of a game that saw the Lakers get about 20 offensive boards off Kobe’s misses alone (I exaggerate… slightly).  Injuries are obviously a part of the game, but with new Western powers emerging and stomping a repeat-champs Lakers squad that was healthier than its two title seasons (Bynum anyone?), we have to reevaluate Kobe’s last 2 rings (and they will be his last 2 rings) more as a product of the best team in the NBA being hurt than Kobe being a great winner/champ/leader.  Also, he’s not clutch.  We have proof.  By which I mean MORE proof. Pao Gasol: Pao Gasol just played his way out of the Top 100 with a second-straight “OMG how do they pay him to play basketball?  He looks TERRIFIED!” postseason unless this shit gets turned around pronto.  Kevin Garnett: If the Celtics make the Finals, it’s mainly because KG started playing as well as he did during his MVP season (well, almost).  He and Rondo are definitely Co-MVPs for the C’s so far in these playoffs, and for KG to prove the doubters wrong and return to the Finals means we have to put him ahead of Dirk and LeBron (at least for now) on the “Greatest NBA Players of All Time Who Are Still Active” list, at #3 behind Duncan and (gulp) Kobe.  If the C’s WIN the Finals and KG keeps up at this high level of play, he undoubtedly earns a Top 20 spot of all time, leapfrogging Charles Barkley and Karl Malone at the very least.  He also has an excellent argument for “second greatest power of all time” behind Duncan, and depending on your feelings regarding Bob Pettit, it might not even be a discussion.  (Yes I know he’s been playing center this whole time.  But so has Duncan.  So… yeah.  You still think Malone and Barkley had better careers?) Paul Pierce: Bill Simmons (who I base most of these rankings off of) recently wrote that we will remember Pierce as the 4th greatest Celtic of all time behind Russell, Bird and Havlicek.  A 2nd title would obviously not give him as many as tons of other guys besides those 3, but he is The Captain and those 3 are the only “alpha dogs” to lead the Celtics to more titles.  Considering that Simmons ranked Bob Cousy #21 greatest player of all time back in 2010, a second title with Pierce putting up a few more Atlanta Games 2 and 4’s (and not Philly Game 2’s) means he has a very good argument for top 25 players of all time, no?  Sounds crazy, but in 2010 Simmons had Stockton #25, followed by Rick Barry, Bill Walton and (blech) Dwyane Wade.  Pierce definitely belongs in that group if not above it.  Rajon Rondo: Rajon Rondo is playing like a fucking unbelievable animal and if they get back to the Finals, it’s the 2nd time in 3 years he’s led them there.  I cannot overstate how happy I am he didn’t get traded for Chris Paul.  IDK how high a Finals win with Rondo throwing up triple doubles at will puts him all time given that he’s only been a star since 2009, but he’s definitely in the top 100.  Don’t think so?  Simmons had Robert Horry, Arvydas Sabonis, Shawn Kemp and Chris Mullin in the 80’s.  I rest my case.  Ray Allen: Reduced to a bench role, a good C’s run would help his legacy the way the 86 Celtics help Walton’s.  A bit, but his place in history is pretty much set.   LeBron James: If the Heat go down to the Pacers, how is that on LeBron?  Bosh is out, leaving this Heat team slightly more or slightly less talented than the shitty Cleveland teams LeBron bolted on for South Beach depending on your opinion of those teams and how Dwyane Wade plays each night (speaking of which…) Dwyane Wade: Fucking Dwyane Wade.  Just had one of the worst playoff games of all time against Indiana last night and LeBron is STILL getting blamed for the loss?  WTF???  This guy gets the biggest double standard treatment of all time.  Kobe’s legacy always suffered because he won those first 3 titles with Shaq.  But Wade wins one with a not-quite-as-good-but-still-beastly Shaq and HE’S a born winner?  Even though Shaq bolts and the Heat turn into a shit sandwich?  Even though that title will always have an asterisk for some of the most fishy officiating of all time, where Wade basically just ran into Mavericks for four straight games and shot as many free throws as the whole Dallas team at some points?  He’s Kobe Lite, but more fragile.  There’s been this myth floating around that you can compete for a title with Wade on your team but not another top 5 NBA player - clearly not true.  He’s killing the team.  If he’s hurt, he shouldn’t play, but it would just contribute to his legacy as a dude who can’t stay healthy.  If he isn’t, he’s sucking ass and killing his team when they need him to step up.  Unless he turns it around NOW and starts shooting the fucking lights out, I think it’s absolutely insane that we consider him to have one of the 5 best careers among active players.  Hell, wouldn’t an OKC title automatically give Kevin Durant a better stake to that claim?   To sum up, if things continue the way they look like they’re headed (Celtics-Pacers ECF and Spurs-Thunder WCF that’ll probably both go 7, with the C’s and Spurs being the 2 hottest teams in the NBA since the All-Star break and PROBABLY the most likely title opponents, here’s who the biggest winners and losers are individually): Biggest winners: Duncan Garnett Rondo Durant Ginobili/Parker (could be switched with Pierce) Biggest losers: Kobe Wade Gasol Dirk (more 1st round sweeps than titles??? weak) People who hate LeBron more than Kobe or Wade Deuces

LONG RAMBLING POST ABOUT HOW THESE NBA PLAYOFFS WILL AFFECT EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE TOP 100 NBA PLAYERS OF ALL TIME DISCUSSION 

This is obviously premature, but what’s the point of speculating after the fact?  That’s no fun.  This is pretty self-explanatory; how does the legacy every player currently still playing in the 2012 NBA Playoffs change based on the outcome?  For the record, here are the players “definitely already in” or “probably on their way in” to the Top 100 Players in NBA History:

Spurs: Tim Duncan (def.), Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker (on their way)

Clippers: Chris Paul (def.)

Thunder: Kevin Durant (on his way)

Lakers: Kobe (def.), Pao Gasol (on his way)

Celtics: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen (def.), Rajon Rondo (on his way)

Heat: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade (def.)

(The Pacers have no one who sniffs this discussion right now but ironically are probably the favorites in the East with a 3-seed, home court, a 2-1 lead and Bosh out.  Ironic)

Tim Duncan: If the Spurs win it all this year, and they look like the overwhelming favorites, we have to have the uncomfortable “Is Tim Duncan one of the 5 best players of all time?” conversation, which is also the uncomfortable “He is better than at least 2 of these 3: Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson” consequence.  Look at what his resume would be:

  • Best player on 5 championship teams (nobody besides Michael Jordan and Bill Russell can unequivocally boast that) 
  • Best player on championship teams 13 years apart (nobody besides Russell or Kareem has that longevity)
  • An incredible stretch of durability that saw him miss more than 10 games only twice and more than 20 NEVER.  WHAT????
  • Offensive and defensive statistical dominance coupled with stable leadership that made him the best player of the NBA’s fourth dynasty (dynasty: team that won 5 titles within 15 years with the same nucleus; the other three?  Russell’s Celtics, Magic/Kareem’s Lakers and Jordan’s Bulls.  Wow.)

I think given these stats, it’s very hard to argue against Duncan as the #4 player of all time behind MJ (untouchable #1), Russell (greatest winner, leader and defensive player of all time) and Kareem (6 titles + MVPs, second best scorer of all time after MJ). 

Manu Ginobili: With the way he’s playing and his career, a Spurs title would solidify him as the Kevin McHale of this generation, except a guard. 

Tony Parker: Likewise, he’s not the leader of the Spurs but there’s a GIANT drop off in talent after him on the roster.  I’d argue he’s more important to the Spurs than Parish was to the C’s or Worthy to the Showtime Lakers. He and Manu definitely make it into Top 100 all time with a title this year. 

Chris Paul: I don’t think this season really helps or hurts CP3’s legacy much if the Clips keep getting smacked around by a superior Spurs team.  However, he needs to play much better in Games 3 and 4 (and any others) to make people forget about the absolute shit sandwich he put up in San Antonio. His legacy will be defined by how far he and Blake can take the Clips with a decent coach and a more experienced team in the coming years.  

Kevin Durant: If this dude wins a title this year, his career is already better than DWade’s right?  IDK how you argue against that.  He’s a better scorer, accomplished more at a younger age, was ALWAYS the best player on his team (unlike Wade, who never was except for those years between Shaq and LeBron when Miami SUCKED) and is much more durable.  I’d bet good money that if he puts up similar regular season numbers next year after winning a title, he’s a lock for MVP.  Even a Finals loss or a WCF defeat to the Spurs would solidify his place in the Top 100 already, and I’d argue ahead of CP3, especially with his evisceration of Kobe’s Lakers (speaking of which…) 

Kobe Bryant: Shaq loves this.  Kobe blew Game 2.  Not the Lakers.  Kobe.  If they get swept out 2 years in a row (or even just 2 straight second round losses), Kobe looks shitty.  Yeah he won back-to-back titles without Shaq, but you know who’s to thank for that?  Kevin Garnett for getting injured in 2009 (before he went down, those Celtics were playing significantly better than the team that throttled Kobe the year before) and Kendrick Perkins for missing Game 7 of a game that saw the Lakers get about 20 offensive boards off Kobe’s misses alone (I exaggerate… slightly).  Injuries are obviously a part of the game, but with new Western powers emerging and stomping a repeat-champs Lakers squad that was healthier than its two title seasons (Bynum anyone?), we have to reevaluate Kobe’s last 2 rings (and they will be his last 2 rings) more as a product of the best team in the NBA being hurt than Kobe being a great winner/champ/leader.  Also, he’s not clutch.  We have proof.  By which I mean MORE proof.

Pao Gasol: Pao Gasol just played his way out of the Top 100 with a second-straight “OMG how do they pay him to play basketball?  He looks TERRIFIED!” postseason unless this shit gets turned around pronto. 

Kevin Garnett: If the Celtics make the Finals, it’s mainly because KG started playing as well as he did during his MVP season (well, almost).  He and Rondo are definitely Co-MVPs for the C’s so far in these playoffs, and for KG to prove the doubters wrong and return to the Finals means we have to put him ahead of Dirk and LeBron (at least for now) on the “Greatest NBA Players of All Time Who Are Still Active” list, at #3 behind Duncan and (gulp) Kobe.  If the C’s WIN the Finals and KG keeps up at this high level of play, he undoubtedly earns a Top 20 spot of all time, leapfrogging Charles Barkley and Karl Malone at the very least.  He also has an excellent argument for “second greatest power of all time” behind Duncan, and depending on your feelings regarding Bob Pettit, it might not even be a discussion.  (Yes I know he’s been playing center this whole time.  But so has Duncan.  So… yeah.  You still think Malone and Barkley had better careers?)

Paul Pierce: Bill Simmons (who I base most of these rankings off of) recently wrote that we will remember Pierce as the 4th greatest Celtic of all time behind Russell, Bird and Havlicek.  A 2nd title would obviously not give him as many as tons of other guys besides those 3, but he is The Captain and those 3 are the only “alpha dogs” to lead the Celtics to more titles.  Considering that Simmons ranked Bob Cousy #21 greatest player of all time back in 2010, a second title with Pierce putting up a few more Atlanta Games 2 and 4’s (and not Philly Game 2’s) means he has a very good argument for top 25 players of all time, no?  Sounds crazy, but in 2010 Simmons had Stockton #25, followed by Rick Barry, Bill Walton and (blech) Dwyane Wade.  Pierce definitely belongs in that group if not above it. 

Rajon Rondo: Rajon Rondo is playing like a fucking unbelievable animal and if they get back to the Finals, it’s the 2nd time in 3 years he’s led them there.  I cannot overstate how happy I am he didn’t get traded for Chris Paul.  IDK how high a Finals win with Rondo throwing up triple doubles at will puts him all time given that he’s only been a star since 2009, but he’s definitely in the top 100.  Don’t think so?  Simmons had Robert Horry, Arvydas Sabonis, Shawn Kemp and Chris Mullin in the 80’s.  I rest my case. 

Ray Allen: Reduced to a bench role, a good C’s run would help his legacy the way the 86 Celtics help Walton’s.  A bit, but his place in history is pretty much set.  

LeBron James: If the Heat go down to the Pacers, how is that on LeBron?  Bosh is out, leaving this Heat team slightly more or slightly less talented than the shitty Cleveland teams LeBron bolted on for South Beach depending on your opinion of those teams and how Dwyane Wade plays each night (speaking of which…)

Dwyane Wade: Fucking Dwyane Wade.  Just had one of the worst playoff games of all time against Indiana last night and LeBron is STILL getting blamed for the loss?  WTF???  This guy gets the biggest double standard treatment of all time.  Kobe’s legacy always suffered because he won those first 3 titles with Shaq.  But Wade wins one with a not-quite-as-good-but-still-beastly Shaq and HE’S a born winner?  Even though Shaq bolts and the Heat turn into a shit sandwich?  Even though that title will always have an asterisk for some of the most fishy officiating of all time, where Wade basically just ran into Mavericks for four straight games and shot as many free throws as the whole Dallas team at some points?  He’s Kobe Lite, but more fragile.  There’s been this myth floating around that you can compete for a title with Wade on your team but not another top 5 NBA player - clearly not true.  He’s killing the team.  If he’s hurt, he shouldn’t play, but it would just contribute to his legacy as a dude who can’t stay healthy.  If he isn’t, he’s sucking ass and killing his team when they need him to step up.  Unless he turns it around NOW and starts shooting the fucking lights out, I think it’s absolutely insane that we consider him to have one of the 5 best careers among active players.  Hell, wouldn’t an OKC title automatically give Kevin Durant a better stake to that claim?  

To sum up, if things continue the way they look like they’re headed (Celtics-Pacers ECF and Spurs-Thunder WCF that’ll probably both go 7, with the C’s and Spurs being the 2 hottest teams in the NBA since the All-Star break and PROBABLY the most likely title opponents, here’s who the biggest winners and losers are individually):

Biggest winners:

  1. Duncan
  2. Garnett
  3. Rondo
  4. Durant
  5. Ginobili/Parker (could be switched with Pierce)

Biggest losers:

  1. Kobe
  2. Wade
  3. Gasol
  4. Dirk (more 1st round sweeps than titles??? weak)
  5. People who hate LeBron more than Kobe or Wade

Deuces

1:58pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxLij2PC
(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: NBA Tim Duncan Celtics legacy clutch swag Kobe Bryant Dwyane Wade LeBron James Rajon Rondo Kevin Garnett Ray Allen Paul Pierce Chris Paul Blake Griffin Kevin Durant OKC Thunder Spurs Lakers Clippers Pacers Bill Simmons 
April 6, 2012
Yo that Celtics game was straight fuckin’ ugly.  Total collapse epitomized by Rondo’s huge brick at the end of the 4th.  Woo baby that shit hurts my head

Yo that Celtics game was straight fuckin’ ugly.  Total collapse epitomized by Rondo’s huge brick at the end of the 4th.  Woo baby that shit hurts my head

12:27am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxJACj4k
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: Rondo Celtics brick Boston NBA basketball 
January 4, 2012
I don’t know what Rajon Rondo is doing in this picture but 10-year-old me wouldn’t know what I was doing going to work a night shift during a Celtics game so I’m not gonna question it

I don’t know what Rajon Rondo is doing in this picture but 10-year-old me wouldn’t know what I was doing going to work a night shift during a Celtics game so I’m not gonna question it

10:38pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxEHdzkg
(Notes: 9)
  
Filed under: Celtics Rajon Rondo fml swag Boston NBA basketball mad scientist 
December 27, 2011
I’m not blaming the refs (entirely) for the C’s loss tonight, but we can’t forget how shitty they were, and how long the announcers on TNT spent shitting on them.  NBA, needs to get its fuckin’ act together.  If I have to post this after every game (and I’ll do it after a win if it’s warranted)… IDK what I’ll do, but it’ll be something crazy

I’m not blaming the refs (entirely) for the C’s loss tonight, but we can’t forget how shitty they were, and how long the announcers on TNT spent shitting on them.  NBA, needs to get its fuckin’ act together.  If I have to post this after every game (and I’ll do it after a win if it’s warranted)… IDK what I’ll do, but it’ll be something crazy

11:01pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-L_uxDu4G39
(Notes: 18)
  
Filed under: Celtics NBA basketball refs suck no swag antiswag dick sucker bavetta 
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