Don’t believe LeBron if he says he’s just a basketball player

When we look at how most sports leagues are ran, the common thing seen is players won’t have power like the team owners and management does. This is not the case with the National Basketball Association (NBA), where players have huge influences, not just within the sport itself, but outside in the social world as well. That influence wasn’t on any bigger display than it was during the league’s free agency period, where players literally were able to swing the balance of power with their moves, even if they had multiple years left on their contracts. So who gets most of the credit for starting this movement of player empowerment? Look no further than Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.

In pointing to James as the person who should get credit for starting this era of player empowerment, it isn’t to say he’s the first to use his stance to get what he wants. Going back to when Michael Jordan played, players would use their leverage to get as much money as they can. What I am saying is LeBron is one the first players to use his stature to get what he’s looking for, while keeping the pressure on the team he’s playing for at the same time. By pressure, I mean in ways like signing other players to fit James’s game, and getting his friends paid also (see the deals signed by Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson and Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for context). Overall, I definitely understand if a player wants to exercise leverage, because in the business world, a team would be quick to let him or her go if they don’t think he or she can no longer produce at a high level. At the same token, a squad has to ask when it’s too much for a player who is probably going to leave anyway.

LeBron, to look at things objectively, did spend the first seven seasons of his career with the Cavaliers, who drafted him No. 1 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft. After that, it was the summer of 2010, when James announced he would be “taking his talents to South Beach,” and signing with the Miami Heat. In doing so, LeBron would join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the No. 5 and 4 picks in the same draft James was in, and form a “superteam.” I’m sure I don’t have to explain the significance of this move, but it stands out because the balance of power literally swung in the Heat’s favor just from that decision. After joining Miami, there would be other moves made to make sure the roster was to LeBron’s liking. From the outside, it may look like everything is great, because the team James is on is instantly (until last season) in contention for a title. Having said that, there seems to be a lot teams who have the player widely viewed as the best basketball player in the world have to deal with in order to have that luxury.

After four years, and two championships, with the Heat, James would leave Miami and come back to play with the Cavaliers in the summer of 2014. There were some who thought he left because he couldn’t control the team like he wanted, because the president of the team was Pat Riley, who is best known for being the coach of the showtime Lakers during the 80s. Upon his arrival in Cleveland, expectations changed for the Cavs, going from a team who was building towards the future, to a team who has to win right now. The head coach at the time, David Blatt, was brought on to help develop the young talent, led by point guard Kyrie Irving (more on him later). Now, it was how to manage a player who believes he’s the smartest in the room. Andrew Wiggins, who was drafted by the Cavs in with the No. 1 pick in 2014, was all of a sudden traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves to bring in Kevin Love. This team had James’ fingerprints all over it, so much in some’s, estimations that he might as well have the title of player-coach, general manager and owner. Blatt would later be fired in favor of assistant coach Tyronn Lue, another move that had LeBron’s preferences. Now, it’s the Lakers who seem to be at the mercy of James. Over the past few months, Luke Walton has been replaced by Frank Vogel as the head coach, and the man who helped bring LeBron to Los Angeles, Magic Johnson, suddenly stepped down as team president and went scorched Earth on every associated with the team. Only the people inside know for sure, but I can understand if someone thought LeBron was a reason these changes happened.

In following the career of James, one thing that sticks out to me his his passive-aggressiveness. He’ll have you believe he’s just the player, and he has nothing to do with any of the personel moves. That stance in and of itself is laughable when you consider this is the NBA we’re talking about. In a league where players have a lot of power, it would be hard to believe the most powerful player sits back and does nothing. The Lakers just got Anthony Davis in a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans. James and Davis have the same agent in Rich Paul. I think we’re teasing ourselves if we think that had nothing to do with the trade pulling through. Those deals with Thompson and Caldwell-Pope, they probably don’t get done without the influence of James and his camp. Those two also have Paul as their agents. Bottom line, a lot of stuff doesn’t get down unless James gives the OK. What teams have decided is having LeBron is worth the headache, as long as they have the chance to play in June. Back to Cleveland, Irving didn’t think it was worth his sanity, as he would demand a trade. He got his wish, and went to the Boston Celtics. That’s part of that player empowerment James has lead. Sometimes it can be a gift, and other times it can be a curse. Lately, it’s looking more like a curse.

Two players, two reminders of greatness

In sports, there are times where a player reaches a level of greatness, go off the radar for a little bit, then rise back up to let people know they’re still around. Most of this can be attributed to the way society is, especially with us being in the “What have you done for me lately?” attitude that has taken over. Another part is people just didn’t realize how good a player was when they were destroying everyone in their path, and when they do it again, it’s some sort of coming out party. The “surprise” of what’s going on is what dominated the airwaves when it comes to discussing Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, who are duking it out in the NBA Finals. Honestly, this isn’t any sort of coming out party, nor should anyone be surprised at the high level these two are playing at. What both are doing is reminding everyone how great they were, and still are.

Of course, while Curry and Leonard are sharing the biggest stage in basketball, the paths the two used to get there this season are drastically different. Let’s start with Curry, who is making his fifth straight NBA Finals appearance with the Warriors. The seventh pick in the 2009 NBA Draft was the league’s Most Valuable Player two seasons in a row (2014-’15 and 2015-’16), and became the only unanimous winner of the award the second time (not to mention winning one league title and being seconds away from making it two during this span). After forward Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in the summer of 2016, Curry became a very potent sidekick in many’s eyes. Through it all, the shooting never left, then Durant goes down with a calf injury in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. The injury to Durant was supposed to spell doom for Golden State, but Curry said not so fast. From that moment, to the completion of a sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers in the conference finals, the son of sharp-shooter Dell Curry went on a tear that quickly reminded people what he’s capable of. After Game 5 of the Rockets series, Curry scored 33 points or more in each game. Suddenly, analysts and bloggers were acting like this was a shock. I guess people forgot how great Curry was before Durant even entered the equation.

While Curry’s road wasn’t exactly easy, it was nothing like the route Leonard took to get to this point. The 15th pick in the 2011 draft (traded from the Indiana Pacers to the San Antonio Spurs on the same day) came into the league know as a great defender, but worked to improve his game in some form every year he’s been in the league. The hard work cumulated in the form of an NBA Finals MVP in 2014, and two Defensive Player of the Year awards in the years that followed. It seemed like the sky’s the limit for Leonard, then came the 2017-’18 season, in which he only played in nine games for the Spurs. There was a lot of controversy in regards to a quadriceps injury Leonard was nursing. The Spurs medical staff cleared him to play, but his team was saying he wasn’t ready to return. Regardless of what happened or what side a person is on, the bottom line is the dispute led to a serious disconnect, and ultimately, a broken relationship that was beyond repair. Leonard would be traded to the Raptors, and what followed him was a reputation (in some’s eyes) of someone who quit on the Spurs. With his new team, Leonard would quickly reminded people how good he is, leading Toronto to a 58-24 regular season record, and the franchise’s first Finals appearance. During the playoffs, Leonard had plenty of scoring outbursts, prompting analysts to ask where is that coming from. Again, how quickly people forgot this man was the best “two-way” player in the league.

Both Curry and Leonard have interesting stories that have seen the highest of highs, and some low points. Everyone who plays sports will experience peaks and valleys, but for those players who have achieved a certain level of greatness, it’s hard to imagine them becoming sorry all of a sudden unless unforeseen circumstances happen. Both of these men never lost their skill, or work ethic. They were just put in situations where their individual excellence was forgotten. For Curry, he sacrificed his own status of being the man for the Warriors to make room for Durant and put titles over personal fame. For Leonard, he didn’t (or at least his team didn’t) think he was healthy enough to play. At any rate, both are back to doing what they do, and doing it at a high level.

For more context, we can’t forget how historically good these two were, and are. Curry, with his shooting ability, has literally changed the way the game is played. Leonard is a rare player who can score with the best, and can also guard all five positions on the court on defense. How quickly people forget how good players were. It’s so bad, people will be the talk of the day one minute, and forgotten about the next. From here forward, Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard should be mentioned in the best player in the world conversation, and what they have done in the playoffs should serve as a reminder. The problem is these names should have never left that conversation in the first place.

Criticism of Greek Freak shows what’s wrong in today’s sports media

One thing I can’t stand about society these days is whenever something goes wrong, the instinct is to find something, or someone, to blame for the reason why it happened. The world of sports isn’t any different. As a matter of fact, players get their feet put to the fire, especially if the team they play for went through a monumental collapse at the moment of truth. We know the drill by now. If a team loses, blame automatically (in most cases) goes to the star player, and this is the reality that faces Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in the wake of what happened in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Even though the majority of the time is spent piling on the negative, I prefer to look at the positive and give credit to where it’s deserved. The Toronto Raptors were great in coming back from a 2-0 series deficit to win four straight and earn a trip to the NBA Finals, where they have a chance to dethrone the Golden State Warriors. The Raptors’ defense, particularly forward Kawhi Leonard, did a great job of forcing Antetokounmpo into jump shots, and making other players, such as guards Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe, into doing things they’re not as comfortable doing. Toronto’s bench, which was a strength during the regular season, had disappeared at times during the playoffs. In the conference finals against the Bucks, those contributions came back to life. If you ask me, this series was more about what the Raptors did right than what Milwaukee did wrong.

Having said all of that, I would be cheating if I didn’t look at both sides of the equation. Toronto was great, but there were times where it looked like the moment was too big for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo actually airballed free throws, and the crowd at Scotiabank Arena wasn’t afraid to let him hear about it. Yes, the Greek Freak wasn’t nearly as dominant against the Raptors as he has been all season and in the first two rounds against the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. That much may be true, but to say he was practically a no-show in the latter part of the series is, for the lack of a better word, a lie. Looking at his numbers in the games, they were still decent. In Game 3 (for example), Antetokounmpo had 12 points on 5-16 shooting, but he also had 23 rebounds and seven assists. I bring this game up because the shooting percentage could have definitely been enough for most players to let the rest of their performance slip, but that wasn’t the case with the Greek Freak.

If anyone watched the coverage following Milwaukee’s dismissal, they would have thought Antetokounmpo didn’t do anything in the series at all. I even heard people (mostly from Houston) try to compare these performances to past playoff failures seen from Houston Rockets guard James Harden. I’m here to say those games aren’t even close to being the same. Antetokounmpo didn’t go 2-of-11 shooting with six turnovers in an elimination game, like Harden did in Game 6 of the 2017 Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs (a game the Rockets lost 114-75). The Greek Freak also didn’t have a game like Harden did in Game 5, another elimination game, of the 2015 West finals against the Warriors, where almost had as many turnovers (12) as points (14). All I’m saying is if we’re going to make comparsions, let’s at least be in the same ballpark, and putting Antetokounmpo’s performances side-by-side with Harden’s is nowhere near the same.

I think we can all agree the Greek Freak is an awesome player who can still get better. He’s only 24 years old, and the potential he can reach is downright scary. What the Raptors did was exploit one of the few weaknesses in his game but taking away the easy paint baskets, and that’s the lack of a consistent jump shot. It’s not that Antetokounmpo can’t hit from the outside, it’s just not to the point where teams are going to say they need to get out there before he releases. Just imagine if the Greek Freak does get a consistent mid-range jumper (doesn’t even have to be a three-pointer). If that happens, he becomes almost unguardable, and that might be something the rest of the league is not ready for.

For now, Antetokounmpo is more than pretty good. Keep in mind this is his first time getting this far in the playoffs, Before this season, he hasn’t made it out of the first round. While I don’t think anyone is above criticism, to crush him on his performance is over the top in my eyes. The Greek Freak wasn’t destroying things on the court, but I don’t think he vanished either, and for all of the hot take artists out there, it’s time to be realistic instead of trying to cause click bait. By the way, he’s probably going to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Players award later this month, so I think he’s doing okay.

The curious case of the Warriors

As the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors beat each other up in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors, the two-time defending NBA champions, are enjoying an extended break as they wait and see who they will play in the NBA Finals, which start May 30. After sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers out of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors get to rest and get a little healthier before they make their fifth straight finals appearance. For the rest of us, we get to dissect everything off the court surrounding this team, and it has made for some interesting conversation across the airways. Before we continue the dive, keep in mind I believe all of this is comical, and the potential for this to become hilarious is super high.

Let’s start with naming the characters in the soap opera, and at the same time, catch things up to the current point. Golden State was in a hotly-contested series with the Houston Rockets. In Game 5, with the series tied at two games apiece, forward Kevin Durant goes down with an injury (diagnosed as a calf strain, although it looked worse when it happened) in the third quarter. Most people thought losing the reigning NBA Finals MVP would spell doom for the Warriors, but it has proven to be the opposite. Golden State would win Game 5, then go to Houston and eliminate the Rockets in Game 6. Afterwards came the sweep of the Blazers in the conference finals. In other words, the Warriors haven’t lost since Durant went down, and the team looked like the one before he came there, yes, the one who won the title in 2015 and won an NBA record 73 games the year after.

Through this improbable run, we have been reminded about the greatness of the splash brothers, guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (as if we needed it), the versatility of Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala and a bench that has people thinking the motto “Strength in Numbers” is still alive and well. Curry, in particular, has been on a tear since Durant went down. Going back to Game 6 of the Rockets series, he has scored 33 points or more in every game since, topping off the stretch with a triple-double in the close-out of Portland, where he had 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Green also had a triple-double in the last game the Warriors played.

The recent run has media outlets everywhere asking questions about whether or not Golden State even needs Durant to win what would be their third straight title going forward. Numbers would tell you no, especially the record of 34-4 for the team when Curry plays and Durant doesn’t (since Durant was signed by the Warriors in the summer of 2016). All of this conversation is apparently getting the attention of the probable free agent to be, because he is being his normal sensitive self and clapping back on all of his doubters through Twitter, among other social media outlets. One of the people who Durant was going back and forth with is Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard, who basically said in so many words the worst nightmare is becoming a reality for KD (more on that in a minute). Seeing how thin-skinned Durant makes me shake my head, but hey, at least he isn’t creating fake accounts to shake the “haters” off this time.

Looking at things objectively, it would be hard to believe a team could be better without the services of a man who many would say is the best basketball player in the world. Having said that, one could see where that opinion is not far-fetched. The ball moves, and everyone is involved in the offense. As great as KD is, he is primarily an isolation player, and he has to have the ball in his hands to make his biggest impact on a game. As a team, it’s easy to fall in love with a player who can score in bunches, but it can make it easier for a team to defend them. Back to that worse nightmare comment from Broussard. My translation is if Golden State wins the title without Durant, the temperature, if it can go any higher, would really go up in terms of the team needing him at all. We can hear the critics now, saying how weak it was joining a team he couldn’t beat as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The critics will also say it’s proven KD is a luxury to the Warriors, not a necessity. All he did was make an already great team even better. This is what has been coming towards KD, and will reach a higher pitch if another trophy comes back to the Bay Area. I will be interested in the result, but for now, I’ll just sit back and laugh at Durant’s sensitivity on full display.

If Tiger wants to catch Nicklaus, how about playing more golf?

Who can forget where they were back on April 14, the day Tiger Woods announced he is back on the prowl by winning the 2019 Masters Tournament? Every network and radio station couldn’t wait to see the day where Woods would win another major, something he hadn’t done since his victory at the 2008 U.S. Open, and honestly, I was one of the people waiting for that day also. When that day finally came, I remember sitting in a barbeque restaurant, eating a brisket sandwich with a smile on my face, watching Woods sit at a press conference wearing his fifth green jacket.

This was the climax of the journey of a man who was at the top, then went to a through a complete freefall (mostly from his own actions), and worked his way back to the No. 1 spot, at least for this event. It was great to see, but than I had a thought, and asked myself what happens next. As I finish the fries that came with my brisket sandwich, I start to wonder what happens in the future, and get caught up in the wash that is the prisoner of the moment syndrome.

It’s at this moment where I get logic to set in. What seemed inevitable before, which was Woods catching Jack Nicklaus for most career major victories, is suddenly back in the question after a moment of serious doubt. Tiger now has 15 major wins, which puts Nicklaus’ 18 squarely in the crosshairs. Knowing this, we have to understand this isn’t the same man who was tearing the PGA Tour up in the late 1990s – early 2000s. He’s 43 years old, and his body has been through numerous surgical procedures. How much will Tiger be able to play? How will his mind, body and soul hold up? How deep is the competition he’ll have to go through? These are just a few of the questions I ask myself as I ride home.

The first two questions, only Woods can answer, but the last question, I can say the competition will be as tough as it’s ever been. This showed at last weekend’s PGA Championship, the now second of the four major tournaments that was moved from August to May. Coming off of the Masters win, hype was strong, but all of that excitement turned into disappointment when Woods went on to miss the cut, while his playing partner, Brooks Koepka, was blowing through the course at Bethpage Black on his way to his second straight PGA Championship win. If Tiger is going to pass Nicklaus, it’ll be tough to stave Koepka off alone, and that’s on top of the mix of Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory Mcllroy and Justin Rose, among others.

While I would never claim to know everything, I do know and believe this much. It’s hard to think of a scenario where a person can just show up and beat the world’s best in any situation, let alone without any playing and practice time. That’s what Woods was essentially trying to do, because he didn’t play at all between the Masters and PGA Championship. The result was nothing short of disastrous, and if Tiger wants to win any tournament going forward, he has to play competitive golf. He says he’ll play in the Memorial Tournament leading up to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, so that’s a good sign, but is that enough? If I was a betting man, I would say no. I root for Woods to break Nicklaus’ record, but I don’t see it happening if he just plays in primarily majors. If Tiger is back on the prowl, it’s time to go hunting on other courses.