Tag: NBA

Egos in the way of perceived great players

When a player is going through his or her career, one of the toughest things for them to deal with is the realization they can’t quite do the stuff they could in their younger days. Knowing Father Time is undefeated, a tough decision has to be made. Either said player is going to evolve and make adjustments to prolong their journey, or the ego will stay in the way, leading to a sharp decline in ability and status. The three players discussed in the coming paragraphs are among the best offensive players in recent memory (notice I didn’t say overall, because they’re terrible defensively), but for one reason or another, the impact they once had on the court is becoming more minimal almost by the day. Therefore, it’s probably safe to say a crossroads has been reached, and what happens after this point depends on whether or not growth occurs.

Let’s start with Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving. One thing Irving can say is he has a championship on his resume, and by hitting one of the biggest shots in NBA history in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, he is forever written in Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA history. Outside of that, Irving is known for having special offensive skills, but also for being a player who is not dependable and rots team chemistry. He forced a trade from the Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics, and after two seasons, the Celtics couldn’t wait to get him out the door. The Nets were waiting to take Irving in, but the three seasons that have followed have been uneven at best. The 30-year-old has constantly alienated teammates, and between injuries, going on mysterious vacations during the season and his unwillingness to get the COVID vaccine, nobody can say he’s been the most available player. What’s common with Irving’s behavior is let him tell the story, it’s never his fault, and he always the smartest person in the room. Point blank, all of the drama that comes with Irving off the court is starting to overcome the dazzle his offensive talent provides on it, and if his ego continues to inflate, it would not be a surprise to hear about an early retirement sooner than later.

Next, let’s dive into the story of Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden. The 32-year-old was once mentioned as one of the greatest offensive players in league history during his time with the Houston Rockets, and he even has a regular season MVP under his belt from the 2017-’18 campaign. Now, accumulating with a no-show performance in an elimination game Thursday night against the Miami Heat, Harden has developed a reputation to disappear when his team he’s on needs him the most (playoff time). Another cloud that hangs over his head is the tendency to want to run away from adverse times. When things went south in Houston, Harden threw teammates under the bus, showed up to training camp horribly out of shape, and whined his way to the aforementioned Nets via a trade involving four teams. Stuff went haywire in Brooklyn, and once again, Harden forced a trade, this time to the 76ers. One can only run away from problems for so long, before the problem is staring right back at them through a mirror. This is the reality Harden faces, and that, combined with declining abilities, is all catching up. It’s already proven a team wasn’t going to win a title with a player who has been on three teams in two years being their best, but maybe it can happen with him being a complimentary piece. Can Harden make that adjustment? Anything is possible, but if teams continue to pay him like a max player, there’s no reason to believe that change would happen.

Finally, the story of Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is on the menu. Like Harden, Westbrook has won an MVP (2016-’17), and he averaged a triple-double in three straight seasons (four total). When the triple-double record was reached in Westbrook’s award-winning journey as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, that marked the first time a player accomplished the feat since Oscar Robertson did it in 1961-’62. The 33-year-old has been widely praised for his ungodly athletic feats, but a game that’s heavily reliant on athleticism never ages well, especially if that player has little to fall back on. Westbrook has never been a good outside shooter, and even with the flashy triple-double numbers, he’s still a turnover machine after all of these years in the NBA. The athleticism goes away with age, and those explosive dunks are now missed layups. All of this equals being on four teams (Thunder, Rockets, Washington Wizards and Lakers) in the same amount of seasons. It’s no secret the Lakers had a disappointing, disastrous season with no games in the playoffs, but there might have been a slight chance if Westbrook put his ego to the side and came off the bench. With a team that has LeBron James on it, the opportunities to handle the ball go down significantly. Anyone who follows basketball knows that, but apparently, Westbrook didn’t get the memo.

To sum everything up, these three players have serious choices to make if they’re going to be the best version of themselves. In saying that, understand it’s not as much about the numbers as it is about the mindset coming onto the court. When a person thinks about Irving, Harden and Westbrook, leadership and unselfishness isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. This could have been the case all along, but it’s to the point the elite offensive glamour can no longer cover the messy truth. Now, the thirty somethings have to reinvent their way of thinking, or those inflated egos might find themselves in the midst of a huge freefall from grace.

Cutting through the created clutter of the NBA’s MVP discussion

In the wide world of sports, there hasn’t been too many topics generating more buzz than who this season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the NBA should be. The discussion is everywhere, and it’s the type of conversation all of the fake-debate shows dream about. As usual, there is a lot of disagreement in terms of who should win the award, but there is agreement on the three contenders, who are all bigs. The three players (in no particular order) are Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo. On the surface, deciding a winner should seem more cut-and-dry, but it never is, and it’s because the voters make up their own criteria in picking first place. Opinions are what make us unique, but they can also create unnecessary complications, which leads me to this conclusion. No one (including myself) knows what the MVP, in any sport, represents, but I believe I can tell you what the award isn’t.

It’s not a lifetime-achievement award. From reading articles and hearing viewpoints on television and radio shows, it appears some of the voters want to give the award to the best player in the league. That sounds good, but what if said best player is on a team that struggled to make the playoffs? There’s no denying what a person has done in his or her career, but that shouldn’t have any bearing on what happened for a particular year. If lifetime accomplishments is what the MVP is measured on, then there wouldn’t be a need to have this award given annually. For an example, let’s look at the 2017 season. At that time, most people would have said LeBron James, then a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was the best player in the world, but Russell Westbrook, who was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, won the MVP. There aren’t many who think Westbrook is a better player than James overall, but that didn’t stop voters from giving the award to him (it’s funny these two are teammates on a dysfunctional Los Angeles Lakers squad that’s at home with us). In other words, best player is different from most valuable.

The MVP is also not a who has the best stats award. Since the glamour stat is scoring in the eyes of many, that would mean Embiid is the winner, since he won that title during the regular season. Even with that feather in the cap, the 76ers finished fourth in a rugged Eastern Conference, which is a spot behind Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the standings. It’s one thing to see stats, and it’s another to see how it happened in game action. This is important because Jokic and the Nuggets, a team that plays in the Western Conference (and finished sixth and those standings), might not get as many eyes on him simply because of where he resides. There are a lot of players who put up empty stats that don’t lead to team success. I’m not trying to call the stats these three great players empty at all. I’m just saying while numbers never lie, they don’t always tell the whole truth.

Finally, the MVP is not a playoff-projection award. Ideally, it would be better if the postseason was included in the voting, but with the system we currently have, the playoffs have nothing to do with anything. Therefore, how people and voters think a player’s team is going to do during money time is completely irrelevant. With Denver facing the Golden State Warriors in the first round, not too many people like the Nuggets’ chances of advancing. Philly has a scrappy Toronto Raptors squad to deal with, and while Milwaukee should be able to get by the Chicago Bulls, nothing is a guarantee. The overall point is there’s a possibility the Nuggets, 76ers and Bucks can go home early. Are we going to say Jokic, Embiid or Antetokounmpo are all of the sudden not worthy of MVP consideration if their respective teams fall short of supposed expectations? Of course, there are some voters who will say that, and ultimately regret choosing the way they did. If and when they have this viewpoint, one can wonder where the meter of understanding lies with these individuals.

Ultimately, the MVP is a regular season award. What standards are used to choose the winner is up to the person with a vote, but there’s no denying that fact. Nothing else matters, and if people want to include the playoffs in the voting, then change the rule, so voting doesn’t start until the NBA Finals conclude. Until that happens, all of the clutter created by voters, and the stats, should cease. Pick the winner for this particular season (not an accumulation of seasons), the person who is most valuable to their team winning games, given the situations they’re in. This includes availability for the team, and the potential lack of availability with other key players on their squads. The three players on the ballot are all deserving, considering this is (again) a regular season award. Let’s keep it there, and I’m confident most of the complications will go away.

Maybe one day, the NFL will be honest with us, and themselves

A lot has happened since March 11, 2020, when the world literally changed forever. It was then when the COVID pandemic really start to grip everything and everyone, and the sports world was not spared from its outreach. The NBA and NHL postponed their respective seasons, and the NCAA cancelled March Madness altogether. MLB didn’t have a clue on how to deal with the pandemic, and their season was shortened to 60 games, more than half of the 162-game campaign we’re accustomed to. Even the English Premier League and other soccer organizations in numerous countries were forced to stop their seasons due to the virus. In other words, the world as we knew it stopped before our eyes.

The one league that was able to escaped the wrath of COVID (at least initially) was the NFL, that was only because they were in their offseason. Eventually, even they would have to adapt to change. The draft would be held virtually, and so would training camps. The preseason was cancelled, and the first game action came with the season-opener between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs Sept. 10 of that year. The season was largely playing out in empty stadiums, and there would be at least one game held each day of the week due to postponements caused by the pandemic.

As the world attempted to return to normal, the NFL was determined to do the same. They wanted to be strict as far as COVID protocols went, pinning the responsibility on the franchises to make sure coaches and players adhere to the rules as the 2021 regular season loomed. No longer would games be postponed due to spikes or outbreaks, they would be forfeited and handed to the team that was supposed to play the infected one. The league wanted to stay on schedule, perhaps thinking (and it’s not out of the norm for the NFL to act this way) they can do so because they are “The Shield.” It would be logical to think this stance was premature when considering a pandemic is still going on, but when has the NFL listened to anybody going against their vision?

With everything I just said, here we are, almost two years after having our lives turn upside down, and there’s a harsh truth staring at us and the league. COVID (and all of its variants) is still very much a factor, and because of that, the NFL is doing what they vowed not to do a few months ago, postponing three games on Friday. The Las Vegas Raiders–Cleveland Browns matchup has been moved from Saturday to Monday, and two more games (The Washington Football Team–Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks–Los Angeles Rams) were pushed back from Sunday to Tuesday. While the move shows a sign of basically being in the same place we were with the pandemic at this point last year, it also shows what the league, and many others, are ultimately about when push comes to shove. Anyone with a little intellect can see money is always the priority when it comes to the decision making in the NFL.

Bottom line, a forfeited result means a loss of revenue for everyone involved, and the NFL knows this better than anyone. What this means is they’ll do anything to protect their profit, even if it means going back on their original word. The funny thing is many people would understand if money is the first motivating factor, as long as the organization is honest about it. Instead, the NFL continues to hide behind other reasons while conducting their business, and attempts to tell us so as if we can’t see through them. Postponing the three games shows exactly why someone can not (and should not) take what the league says seriously, because eventually, the truth comes to life, and it’ll likely involve lots of dollar signs. Then again, nobody can expect the NFL to be honest with them if they can be honest with themselves first.

The NBA title asterisk argument, and why it doesn’t make any sense

Here we are, in the middle of the 2021 NBA Finals, coming close to crowning a new champion. As it stands right now, the Milwaukee Bucks have a 3-2 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, with Game 6 scheduled for Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Both of these teams have been through a lot in their journey to the championship series, and whoever wins deserve the time to be celebrated. It’s been said nobody can ever take a title away from a team who wins it. Unfortunately, there are many who will try to take it away, or at the very least, attempt to lessen the legitimacy of the triumph. Regardless of who wins, either the Bucks or Suns will have to hear how (among other things) teams they faced along the way were not at full strength, which is basically saying their paths were made significantly easier. The 72-game regular season is also something that will be thrown in to dump dirt on the potential victory. All of this equals the mastery of the halfway acknowledgement, where you have people admitting the championship run happened, but with an asterisk. Words like phony and cheap are constantly thrown around to explain a team’s quest when it’s perceived they did not exactly “earn” it. Come with me as we look at other title runs that commonly have an asterisk by it, and then talk about why these cases against the winners equate to glorified excuse making.

1999 San Antonio Spurs – Going into this particular season, there was serious doubt a season would even take place. The NBA and the Players Association were in the middle of a lockout, and a deal wasn’t reached until January of that year. As a result, the season was shortened to 50 games, and the All-Star Game was cancelled. With the campaign compacted, it was the Spurs, lead by future hall-of-famers Tim Duncan and David Robinson, who would emerge as the team to unseat the Chicago Bulls as the new heirs to the throne. Of course, the Bulls looked totally different from previous years, as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman all left the team, and the Los Angeles Lakers, with young superstars Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, weren’t quite ready to ascend to the throne just yet. To top it off, the Spurs defeated an eighth-seeded New York Knicks team to win the franchise’s first trophy. Bottom line is whoever won the title in this campaign was going to get grief simply because it wasn’t the normal 82-game format. It just happened to be the Spurs. Being a teenager who was growing up in San Antonio at that time, I can say first hand the fans down there didn’t care about the way victory was claimed by their team.

2012 Miami Heat – Like the ’99 season, the 2011-12 was also shortened by a work stoppage. The difference is the powers that be were able to salvage a 66-game season instead of 50, with the games starting Christmas Day. The Heat, with the “Big 3” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were coming off of a crushing loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals. With everything on the line, they were able to come through and get the elusive title James sought after in coming down to Florida from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2010. Having said that, the championship didn’t come without its doubts. Besides the season being 66 games, people wonder to this day whether or not the Heat even get to the Finals if the Bulls, who had the best record in the Eastern Conference that year, didn’t lose point guard Derrick Rose to a injured knee in the first round of the playoffs. In the conference finals, Miami needed all seven teams to get by a Boston Celtics team that had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen all on the downsides of their respective careers. With the team the Heat had, it was not a huge surprise seeing them win, but for the haters out there, these are the excuses they put in front to justify the asterisk.

2015 Golden State Warriors – Unlike the first two case studies, the Warriors actually played a full 82-game season. They also had the league’s best record at 67-15 and the Most Valuable Player in guard Stephen Curry. On the surface, this is the team that should have won it all with all things considered, but the argument comes against them because of their opponent in the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers. It was the first year in James’ return to Cleveland after being in Miami for the last four seasons, and he had another version of the Big 3 in the form of himself, guard Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Love. On the way through the East, Love suffered an injured shoulder and was lost for the rest of the season, and Irving hurt his knee in Game 1 of the Finals. Now here come the questions. What would the result have been if Cleveland was healthy (One can ask the same question in reverse when it comes to the Cavs’ title win the year after)? It’s always tough because injuries are part of sports, and we never know when, where or who they can happen to. It’s probably fair to say it’s often not the best team who rises to the top, but the healthiest. For LeBron (and the few remaining Cavs) fans everywhere, health will always be a question, but isn’t that the case for many teams in the history of sports?

2019 Toronto Raptors – In a time where we are always looking a story to captivate us, this version of the Raptors was one a person can get behind with ease. Forward Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto from the Spurs before the year started, and with that move, the whole country of Canada was being carried on Leonard’s back. The end saw the Raptors winning the title, defeating the Warriors, who were trying to become the first team since the Lakers in the early 2000s to win three straight league championships, 4-2. With this run, there are two glaring points some fans and media will point out to take away from Toronto’s accomplishment. One, James left the Eastern Conference to sign with the Lakers, and teams that had him playing for them had made the Finals eight straight times. Two, the Warriors saw Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson go down to catastrophic injuries. Yes, Golden State was favored to win it all going into the season, but to say they would have won just off of projections ignore the original reason why games are played. It just goes to show why there is an element of luck, good or bad, that goes with the skill, and for the people in the city of Toronto, I struggle to see any evidence of care about how the Raptors brought a title back to not just that metropolitan area, but the country as a whole.

2020 Lakers – I probably don’t have to explain why this case is questioned, but for research purposes, here it goes. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season, and sports in general, stopped as we know it, and there were questions about the season being canceled altogether. From March 11 to July 30, the season was in limbo, but it did return to resume playing in Orlando, where teams met to play in the NBA bubble. Needless to say, the circumstances the players were facing were unlike any they have faced before. So with that being said, mental and emotional toughness was going to be key for the team that could rise to the top. It ended up being the Lakers, but people would be quick to point out how the “break” really helped James and newly-acquired forward Anthony Davis by helping their bodies recover from the grind of the regular season. Davis has a detailed injury history, and James, as great as he is, was showing signs of the wear and tear of a long career that has seen countless runs to the Finals in previous years. In other words, critics say L.A. would not have won the title if it wasn’t for the pause in action.

So there are five cases detailing why some fans and media want to put an asterisk on these title runs, but to be honest, the people who have these opinions sound dumb and jealous. If their favorite team, or in the case of the media, their pick to win, came through for them, they are not complaining or talking about the perceived pitfalls they want to throw on the winners. They would put a more positive spin on it, saying how their team was tenacious and showed the heart and grit necessary to complete such a task. Also, it’s quickly forgotten all of the other squads had the same circumstances to deal with. It’s not like there was a different set of rules put together for the team that hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy. To sum it up, the asterisk argument holds no water with these scenarios, and it won’t when the Bucks or Suns get their moment to shine sometime this week. That does not mean people won’t try to fill the broken cup with BS. We’re just left to decide if we want to take the cup, and that decision should be easy if things are looked at by principle instead of who is involved.

Did the Mavericks start a new trend with GM hire?

Looking at the NBA landscape, there were a number of places where change was taking place, but this was especially true in the case of the Dallas Mavericks. In a span of four days, the Mavericks saw events that included a damning story published by The Athletic questioning the pecking order under team owner Mark Cuban, a parting of the ways from then-general manager Donnie Nelson and the decision by Rick Carlisle to step down from the head coaching position (Carlisle is now the head man for the Indiana Pacers…again). All of a sudden, a franchise that seemed to be stable was in chaos, and Cuban was left to make decisions that will alter the course of the team for at least the next decade. The man chosen to be the next head coach of the Mavs is Jason Kidd, the former point guard who was on the team when Dallas won their only championship in 2011. Kidd also coached the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks before finding an assistant coaching role under Frank Vogel with the Los Angeles Lakers. This move is the one making the headlines simply because of the pedigree Kidd brings as a player and coach, but it’s the GM hire that, at least to me, is the more intriguing.

Enter Nico Harrison, a former executive with Nike, as the man chosen to lead basketball operations for the Mavs. At face value, replacing Nelson with a man who doesn’t have any experience in an NBA front office is unconventional at the least, but there could be a underlining method to Cuban’s methods. By being a Nike exec, Harrison has been able to build relationships with numerous players, most notably being the liaison for the late Kobe Bryant in his second year with the company. One of those relationships is with Luka Doncic, the team’s budding superstar who Harrison is tasked with building a championship contender around. That in itself is a monumental chore, considering Dallas plays in the rough and rugged Western Conference, and the roster has more than a few areas needing improvement. The hope for Cuban and the Mavs fan base is some of those relationships Harrison has created can be beneficial in bringing a few of the better players in the association to Dallas, and ultimately, erase the fact the franchise hasn’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since that 2011 title run. At any rate, I believe Cuban is willing to do anything possible to bring a title back to Big D, and while the move to bring Harrison in as GM can be questioned, it may be revolutionary depending on the results.

When we looks into the inner workings of a league’s teams, most of them go with a person who has worked their way up in the franchise, or with someone who is at least familiar with front offices around the league, to be a general manager. It’s not common the people who hold these positions come from a source outside of the league. If there is a model for an awkward GM hire working to the tune of championship results, look no further than the Lakers. L.A. brought in Rob Pelinka, a sports agent whose clients included Bryant and Nets guard James Harden, to be their GM in 2017. Pelinka, was able to help sign forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis, bring Vogel in as the head coach (along with the aforementioned Kidd as an assistant), and build a roster around superstars James and Davis to win the NBA championship last season in the bubble. When Lakers owner Jeanie Buss decided to hire Pelinka as the GM, we could perceive it was because of those business relationships he developed as an agent for a big reason why he got the job. In other words, there are other walks of life that help to get a person in tune with the landscape of a business. While the hire of Pelinka is not exactly the same as Harrison taking over as the Mavericks GM, the fact they come from different entities to operate an NBA team is.

Speaking of those relationships, I personally never believed it when people say business is just business. That theory sounds like a copout more than anything else, and here’s why. Anytime we get into business with someone, there is a period of getting to know that person or group to some degree. In that process, a certain amount of trust has to be built, or the deal will not get done. While this is going on, a friendship may grow out of that. I say all of this to point out there is always a personal aspect to conducting business, and when those relationships are produced, it can lead to bigger and better things down the line. So when we look at what Cuban did with bringing in Harrison, he understands this very narrative, because if he did not, this move does not get made. I guarantee those relationships Harrison developed with the players will be crucial if Dallas is to bring free agents in that can produce a championship contender.

If we are being honest with each other, we can say not much is guaranteed in life or business. One thing we do know is the race to stay ahead of the trends is hotter than ever. If there is a way to revolutionize an industry or organization, the powers that be are going to attempt to find that. Cuban is known as a visionary, and he obviously believes brining someone who earned his reputation at a shoe and apparel company to run his team will get the desired results he desperately wants. Such is the life of a businessman. One either wins big or loses big, and it will be interesting to see if this is a gamble that pays off for Cuban at the end.

Issues, quality of play have MLB in serious disarray

If someone was to look into the history books going back 30 to 35 years, they could find evidence saying Major League Baseball (and baseball in general) was called “America’s Pastime,” and not just because it was the first professional sports league ever established in the United States and Canada. The sport was appealing to kids who dreamed of playing it when they grew up, and between MLB, the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball is the only one of the four major North American sports leagues who has a chunk of their regular season all to themselves, where they don’t have to share the spotlight with others. Currently, football is by far the king in this country when it comes to popularity, and even though baseball is a global sport, soccer and basketball is what would win the numbers game in other countries around the world. On top of the rising popularity of the other sports, MLB found themselves dealing with a work stoppage that halted the 1994 season and an era that was ravaged by the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during this 30 to 35-year threshold, among other issues. All of this equals a sport that is in peril, and if MLB doesn’t find answers to some of these problems that will get covered in this article, we could be talking about a league permanently losing millions of fans before too much longer.

It is understood the other leagues, particularly the NFL, continue to grow in the country’s popularity scale. A big reason for this is how football is marketed throughout the year. Even with the season being shorter than the others, the NFL is a topic year-round because they have different events (such as the combine, draft and minicamps) through the offseason that have us ready to get to July, which is when training camps start league-wide. The same can not be said for MLB, who has done a horrible job marketing their players. This is sad because baseball has a wealth of young stars, and Mike Trout, who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, is in the prime of his career and probably the league’s best player. As good as Trout is, he can probably walk down the street, and the general fan wouldn’t even know it was him, where as NFL stars, like Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, can be spotted from nearby cities. The days of relying on play on the field for popularity are gone, and MLB is getting left further and further behind with their outdated marketing strategies.

Speaking of the play on the field, that has been the worst I remember seeing in my life. The quality is completely gone, being taken to unwatchable heights by the managers, front office gurus and scouts who are interpreting the analytics (fancy word for statistics). It’s to the point where computers might as well be in these aforementioned positions, because it’s rare we see a starting pitcher go past six innings, or see a team find ways to manufacture runs through singles, doubles, triples and stolen bases. It’s either a home run or a strikeout, and both have led to changes that made the quality of play worse (more on these changes in a bit). Regardless of what has transpired with the rules, MLB was already taken down the rabbit hole because of the trend to let analytics take over and dictate the way the game is played. Human instincts and heart is rarely a factor when it comes to making crucial decisions, and this is part of the reason why quality of play has severely diminished.

While MLB wants to show progression in some aspects, they are probably the league who holds on to traditional methods the most, and part of that includes the unwritten rules used to police the sport on the field. First off, unwritten rules are not rules if they can not be found a rule book. Secondly, can somebody tell me what is wrong with someone celebrating a home run a little bit? Why does the next batter, or maybe the person who hit said home run, has to be subjected to retribution? If a pitcher doesn’t want to get home runs hit off of them, get the hitter out. I equate a batter getting beamed to pitchers being sore losers. They are great if they have success, but the minute things go south, now it’s time to cry. Last time I checked, this is supposed to be a league played by adults, so handle the business like adults. If things do not work out as planned, make adjustments to ensure they do next time. As for the unwritten rules, they really are not much different from gray area. I thought it was the objective to get rid of gray area. If we are to believe that is the case, then it is time for the rules that are not written to go.

To compound all of the issues facing MLB, they lost a golden opportunity to perhaps win their way back into the hearts of many fans, even those that may have been lost from the past. We all know 2020 was a year unlike any other due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports world shut down in March of last year, and with the season that normally starts around early-April, baseball could have been the one sport that gave us something to watch and kept us together. Instead, MLB and the Players Association could not agree to a start date, with things as trivial as deciding whether or not to have a designated hitter in the National League coming between them. Therefore, the season did not begin until July 23, almost four months after the normal start date, and it was compressed into 60 games. With people dying and losing their jobs and homes because of the pandemic, the last thing people want to hear about is a league worth billions of dollars fighting over more money. Too many times, MLB gets in their own way, with out-of-touch owners not caring about anything else besides cashing checks, and a players union that seems to have trouble policing a game that’s supposed to take care of itself. Sadly, 2020 was just the latest example, and the once great game continues to get closer to the point of no recovery.

Major League Baseball has some tough questions to answer going forward, and what they come up with is critical for the sport’s future. The front office does not seem to know what they want to showcase on the field. In 2019, a record 6,776 home runs were hit, breaking the previous record (set in 2017) by 671. After the shortened 2020 season, MLB decided to do something about the baseballs being used during games, which pretty much acknowledged the balls were “juiced” during recent years. In this current season, the league batting average was lower than it has been in history, and six no-hitters have been thrown. After weeks of research, it has been discovered pitchers are using foreign substances (such as Spider Tack) to have better control of the ball and increase the spin rate, the amount of revolutions, on their pitches. The substance use in and of itself is something that is not really new, but is alarming because of the degree of the use across the league. So MLB decided to crack down on the usage, making it legal for umpires to do random checks on pitchers for these substances, and giving the league the right to suspend the players if caught. As far as the batting average goes, the fact pitchers have been using what is essentially performance-enhancers does not help what has been a bad season for hitters, but the downward-spiral was long underway because of the way hitting is taught these days. This is where MLB is has to figure out what direction they want to go in terms of getting the best possible product on the field. Either they want offense, or they want pitching to dominate. Instant replay continues to be questionable, and the league deals with some sort of scandal at least every other year. Do they allow minimum foreign substance use for pitchers? Should pine tar be allowed for the bats of hitters? In other words, the sport is in complete and utter disarray, with no answers in sight.

Even with my writing of this article, I am a fan of baseball, and to see the product MLB is running out there for our viewing displeasure is disheartening. With all the problems facing MLB, it does not help the current collective bargaining agreement expires after this season. It appears the two sides are not anywhere close to reaching a new deal, and for a sport that is falling out of favor altogether, that is the worse possible news for even the most hardcore of fans. It took years for MLB to recover from the strike in ’94, and even longer to come out of the steroid era. A work stoppage come next season, and that could be the final blow that puts MLB in a spot of never being able to gain popularity back. The clock is ticking on the league’s (inept) leadership to get a clue and learn to evolve with the times, or else, “America’s Pastime” will become an afterthought in the minds of fans and marketers alike.

Time to answer the annual best player in the NBA (world) question

So the free agency period in the NBA has come and gone, and what a period it turned out to be. This class of free agents was one of the most star-studded in recent memory, and the results of the moves has turned the league into a place where, dare I say it, parody, might be the theme of the upcoming season. Through all of the moves, there has been a lot of debate (as usual) in regards to which player holds the title as the best basketball player in the world. Obviously, this answer varies depending on who you talk to, but for me, it’s between four men. Before I dive into the debate, I want to send my apologies to fans of Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (this season’s regular season Most Valuable Player) and Houston Rockets guard James Harden (not really), because they aren’t on this list, but here are the four dudes that are:

Could it be Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard? Most players who come off of an NBA Finals MVP instantly become part of this conversation, and the same is true in this case. Leonard is coming off of a season where he led the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA championship, and he was traded to them by the San Antonio Spurs before last season. In his only season in a Raptors uniform, Leonard quickly reminded all of us how good he is, and the run he went on during the playoffs can compare to some of the all-time great runs we’ve ever seen. Going to the hardware count, he has two titles, two Finals MVPs and is also a two-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner. Maybe there is a little bit of prisoner of the moment energy when it comes to Kawhi, but this man was always among the best in the league.

Might it still be Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James? I say still because in the estimation of most fans and analysts, James has held this title for quite a while. Even though we didn’t see him in the playoffs this season, the “Chosen One” has more than enough to back up his claim for the world’s best. He is a four-time regular season MVP and a three-time NBA Finals MVP to go along with his three championships. To go along with all that, James has been on a team that has made the Finals eight straight seasons (four with the Miami Heat and four with the Cleveland Cavaliers) before the miss with the Lakers. Say what you want about LeBron, but it’s hard to ignore the man has been historically good for a decade and a half.

Maybe it’s Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant that takes the vote. The instant boost into the best player discussion from winning Finals MVPs was mentioned earlier in the article. Durant was the beneficiary of that boost in 2017 and 2018, where he won the award on the Golden State Warriors’ title teams. We all know Durant is already one of the best scorers ever to play the game, and he has four scoring titles to back that up, and he has a regular season MVP award by his name also. Because of the Achilles injury he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors, it’ll be a while before we see him on a basketball court, but don’t be surprised if KD comes back to remind us of how potent he can be.

Perhaps it’s Warriors guard Stephen Curry who claims the best player award. Curry is already widely known as the greatest shooter of all-time, and he still has some years left two play. He has two regular season MVPs, and is the only played to win that award by a unanimous vote (2015-16). He’s also a three-time NBA champion, and is also given credit for revolutionizing the game because of his shooting ability. Unlike the other three players mentioned above, there’s nothing physically imposing with Steph. He can dominant a game entirely with skill.

There are my four player who are in the running for best player in the world. Of course, I can’t complete this article without actually listing them, right? On my rankings, I would still have to give a slight edge to James. LeBron has been on the top of my list for a while, and it’ll take more than a season to knock him off the No. 1 spot. Leonard would be second, followed by Curry, then Durant. I would love to hear who you have as the best player in the world. Is one of my four, or do you have Antetokounmpo? Maybe Harden, or perhaps Russell Westbrook? Let me know, then let’s debate.

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.