The NBA is Still Fantastic.............

The 2004-2005 NBA season has been very interesting. Many things have caught my eye the third month into the season. Some teams have had good starts(Suns, Sonics, Heat(you should make Shaq your mayor), Wizards, Cavaliers(you should give Bron-Bron team ownership), Spurs(scary)). Some teams are still trying to find themselves(T'Wolves, Pistons, Pacers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Nuggets). The Bulls are 12-18. That may not mean much, but they are starting to get things together. People have made comebacks(Grant Hill). People have fallen off(Sprewell). Scoring is up from last season. People have stepped their game up(Wade, Amare). The stars are all still aligned as well. So I would like to just touch on a few topics here.


First, my awards so far for this season:

Eastern Conference:

MVP: LeBron James, Cavs(with Shaq a close second....)

Rookie of the Year: Emeka Okafor, Bobcats(Ben Gordon is coming up on ya big guy...)
Comeback Player of the year: Grant Hill, Magic(no question)
Sixth Man of the Year: Ricky Davis, Celtics(Sorry Damon Jones, you're starting now)
Most Improved Player: Dwayne Wade, Heat
Most Disappointing Player: Vince Carter, Nets
Most Improved Teams: Cavs, Wizards
Most Disappointing Team: Pistons


Western Conference:

MVP: Steve Nash, Suns( yeah I said Nash!, got a problem with it???)

Rookie of the Year: Beno Udrih, Spurs(All of the rookies are in East. Hmmm...I wonder why?)
Comeback Player of the Year: Grant Hill, Magic(I know he plays in the East)
Sixth Man of the Year: Antonio Daniels, Sonics
Most Improved Player: Amare Stoudemire(without a doubt)
Most Disappointing Player: Hmmm....How about.....Latrell Sprewell
Most Improved Teams: Suns, Sonics
Most Disappointing Team: Hornets(I knew this was coming...)

In the other NBA news....

Sprewell(age 34), wants a contract extension from Minnesota, stating that he needs to "feed his family!" Now let's see here....Sprewell is scheduled to make $14.6 Million this season. I mean how BIG is his family? There are people in more need(Tsunami) and he's talking about feeding his family. I have no problem with a man that wants to feed his family BUT I would think that $14.6 Mil would cover your family's meals for a lifetime....BTW.....Is this the same guy that got those RIMS????.....Just wanted to throw that out there,lol....

Vince Carter(who somehow leads the East forwards in the All-Star voting) just recently said that he did NOT play to his potential in his tenure in Toronto. Now if I was a Raptors fan, I would be pissed off. This man is already overrated as it is. There are many athletes that would bend over backwards for an OPPORTUNITY to play in the NBA. When I go to war on the court every night, I expect my teammates to give the same 100% effort that I'm giving. I have lost a LOT of respect for Vince. This is the same guy that said if the GM, Vice-President, and Head Coach of Toronto did not resign, that he will demand a trade. Who the ..... does this guy think he is? What has he done? NOTHING!!!!!!! This is also the same guy that didn't not want to give up his All-Star starting spot to Michael Jordan, and Vince Carter(if I remember) was injured that season and just came back before the All-Star Game. Sure, Jordan wasn't voted in. I understand that, BUT this is Jordan. Unlike Vince, Jordan IS somebody. McGrady and Iverson did NOT hesitate to step aside for the one of the greatest of all time. So why couldn't Carter do the same? If he comes to Chicago,....I will stop because I am gettting a little angry talking about this.

I am also tired of people pinpointing out all the negative issues in the NBA such as the fight, the Kobe and Shaq dilemma, the Kobe dilemma, the selfishness of players, etc... Just recently, on the other side of the world, Tsunami destroyed many. The count is up to 147,000 people, and is still rising. A man by the name of Arn Tellum(an agent) has talked with his seven players to come up with a way to contribute to the disaster. Here comes the Shoot-a-Thon. The seven players agreed to donate $1,000 for every point that they scored in the week of January 9.

Bob Sura, Rockets: 20 points= $20,000
Pau Gasol, Grizzlies: 20 points= $20,000
Jalen Rose, Raptors: 21 points=$44,000 *
Jermaine O'Neal, Pacers: 32 points= $55,000**
Kobe Bryant, Lakers: 27 points= $27,000
Tracy McGrady, Rockets: 26 points= $26,000
Mike Miller, Grizzlies: 16 points= $16,000

*= Jalen Rose has decided to donate $44,000 because he scored a career high of 44 points on March 16, 2002 while a member of Bulls.

**=Jermaine O'Neal has decided to donate $55,000 because he scored 55 points in the previous game before he dropped 32 on the Spurs.

Arn Tellum will donate $55,000. He is matching the highest total of his seven players.

Now I KNOW what you're saying....there are more than seven players in the NBA. Slowly but surely other players and teams are starting to contribute to donate money in their own special way. The players union is donating $500,000. The Harlem Globetrotters are donating $100,000.


"I LOVE this game!" "Don't you?"


-Da Original 1-