Ball or Nuthin' » Dwayne Wade

Funniest Take on LeBron’s Betrayal

T Lamont — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:38:28 +0000

The video rendition of LeBron’s departure to Miami – WWF style…

My favorite line…

“If it wasn’t for LeBron James, Dan Gilbert would still be selling meat in the back of a truck in Minneapolis…”

Classic…

Chris Paul Following in LeBron’s Footsteps

T Lamont — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:12:12 +0000

Like the good floor general that he is, New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul surveyed the entire free-agency situation before making his move.

And now, he’s taking it right into the teeth of the Hornets organization.

Paul has clearly indicated that he wants out of the gulf. But even more newsworthy is the reason that he wants out – - he wants to team up with some other superstar players in hopes of developing a team that will rival the recently created mega-trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

There’s been talk of Paul trying to orchestrate a trade to the Big Apple to play alongside the new $100 million man Amar’e Stoudemire. Paul may also be holding on to the added hope of bringing Carmelo Anthony (who mysteriously has not signed that 3-year, $65 million extension that Denver is offering him) into the mix, too.

On a side note, there was a Twitter conversation between Kevin Durant (who recently re-signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder) and Anthony regarding the mega-team trend:

KDthunderup- Now everybody wanna play for the heat and the Lakers? Let’s go back to being competitive and going at these peoples!

carmeloanthony - All that mean is Im gonna have to put my teflon on and go to war. BULLY SEASON “2010-11″ coming soon.

What can we extrapolate from that conversation? Nothing, apparently (although we’ll see if Durant does an about face later in his career).

Other rumored destinations that have been mentioned by Paul include the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers – both being hot spots with stars firmly entrenched within their organizations.

But the former Wake Forest All-American did a tremendous job with the timing of his request. He waited until his “brother from another mother,” LeBron James, took the media bashing for taking what many perceive to be the easy way out. Now Paul slides in his intention of doing the same thing, but perhaps on a smaller scale. But, of course, nothing about Paul, Anthony and Stoudemire playing on the same team will be small in New York.

Granted, CP3 – if he had been the first to announce his desire to join a superteam – would not have incurred the same amount of criticism that LeBron did. The fact is that a point guard is traditionally not equipped to carry the weight of a franchise on his shoulders, and especially not one who is barely six feet tall. Nevertheless, in his last two full seasons, Paul has averaged over 22 points, 11 assists and two-and-a-half thefts per contest. That’s some big time production from the little man. But there are a couple of things that I find interesting about this:

If 'Melo brought his game to the Eastern Conference, the new Miami Heat would be in for a battle.

- The Hornets’ most promising players are vertically challenged (i.e. short) guards. While he needs to cut down on his turnovers, Darren Collison did a great job after being thrust into the role of starter due to CP3′s injury. And LSU standout Marcus Thornton has shown a knack for scoring, and plenty of explosiveness, to boot. So, Paul’s desire to be traded won’t leave New Orleans totally void at the point position, but the organization will have to ensure that it gets as much talent in return as possible.

- CP3′s decision says something about his faith, or lack thereof, in David West. West, a two-time NBA All-Star, is a finesse power forward. He’s mobile, but not overly explosive. Paul’s preference to play with the Knicks (Amar’e Stoudemire), the Magic (Dwight Howard) or the Lakers (Pau Gasol) all point to the fact that he enjoys playing with physical, traditional bigs. Recall that CP3 (and the Hornets) was at his best when he was paired with the offensively limited Tyson Chandler, a defensive specialist who played extremely strong around the basket.

Regardless of how the saga ends, this story reinforces the fact that the league has changed. With mulitple quotes from old, retired goats controlling the headlines, we can be easily persuaded that there’s something wrong with the ’new NBA.’

But let’s not let old fogeys describe the character of players who have been under pressure since they were in grade school. That was a pressure that none of them – Jordan, Magic and Barkley included – had to endure.

So yes, the game has indeed changed.

And let your own judgement – as well as the resulting product – be the guide as to whether it has changed for the better.

NBA Free Agency: Teams Will Be Left Disappointed

T Lamont — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:12:06 +0000

The landscape of NBA free agency is indeed a tricky situation to navigate.

A team has to convince several different players simultaneously that their services are desired above and beyond anyone else that they are recruiting.

Let’s take this off-season, for example. Chicago, Los Angeles (Clippers), New York, New Jersey, Miami and, of course, Cleveland all want a piece of LeBron James. Dwayne Wade serves as what will go down in the history of free agency as one of the most talented consolation prizes ever. And if you’re one of the teams mired in this open season madness, you had better make it your business to grab one of these available bigs on the market – whether it be Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer.

We can acknowledge that the aforementioned players represent the cream of the crop, but what is happening with the remainder of the second-tier players?

Well, Memphis swingman Rudy Gay has agreed on a 5-year, $82 million deal which will keep him with the Grizzlies. The soon-to-be-24 swingman is not a franchise player type, but his scoring, athleticism, tough defense and creativity could add a dimension to a team looking for help. Plugging him into the 2/3 spot in Chicago or alongside Dwayne Wade in Miami would have helped those teams tremendously.

Organizations should be concerned about Boozer's injury history.

While Paul Pierce and Ray Allen both filed for free agency, Pierce has already reached a four-year deal to remain with the Celtics. And it’s highly unlikely that Allen will venture away from Beantown. Doc Rivers has announced that he’d “like to get one more crack at it with this group,” and you can believe that he will get that chance.

Joe Johnson is a big name on the market, but is not a true franchise cornerstone. Teams, particularly the Knicks, have courted Johnson in hopes that he can serve as bait for James or Wade. But that plan may be foiled, as the Hawks have offered JJ what many claim to be one of the worst contracts ever – especially for someone who just proved that he is not capable of performing in the absurdly physical second round of the playoffs.

Can we really picture Dirk Nowitzki in a uniform other than that of the Dallas Mavericks? Right now he’s posturing to make his team better, trying to see what Dallas is going to do with its roster. But in the end, he’s not jumping ship.

The big summer of free agency is rapidly coming down to the pursuit of a few key stars – Wade (who has been rumored to be heavily leaning towards remaining in South Beach), James and Bosh (who are both entertaining offers from any and everyone). Accompanying power forwards Boozer and Stoudemire are merely well-known sidekicks.

Six teams are tussling for the two-time NBA MVP. Wade is being wooed by five organizations. Four franchises are engrossed in the hunt for Bosh.

Somebody is going to get left out in the cold. And for them, the summer with so much promise will have ended in nothing but despair.

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Bosh Becoming Key Component in Free Agent Class

T Lamont — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:31:13 +0000

With LeBron James and Dwayne Wade easily being the ’Big Two’ during the free agent bonanza that this summer has become, individually, they may not be the most critical.

The free agent list has a few good to great wing players. Accompanying James and Wade in this category would be Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson and the newly-filed, Boston Celtic forward Paul Pierce. Odds are that Pierce will stay put, but Johnson is certainly looking at options outside of Atlanta.

While James and Wade can be viewed as A+ options for directing a franchise toward instant contender status, Johnson would probably register as a B. But in the frontcourt, there’s seemingly one player who mentioned as the sidekick to the stars – and that’s Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh.

Bosh has indicated that he desires to be the premier, franchise player on whatever team he chooses. For him, that is absolutely the correct thing to say. He shouldn’t jeopardize his worth to competing organizations by admitting what we all know as the truth – that he would not be able to carry a team into the postseason on his own merits. The 6’10″ power forward needs a multi-skilled wing player to get to the next level – and we’ve already seen that the player needs to be considerably better than Hedo Turkoglu.

So why is Bosh any more valuable than, say, Carols Boozer? Or even Amar’e Stoudemire?

In a word, versatility.

If Bosh lands in Miami, he could be reunited with Jermaine O'Neal.

When compared to Boozer, Bosh has true PF length. Bosh’s range on jumpers extends a little bit deeper as well. And Boozer is vertically challenged and not a threat to block shots. Don’t get me wrong: Boozer is a hard-nosed, grind-it-out player. Every team needs those type of players. But they don’t need to pay them big time money, either.

Stoudemire is very explosive, but his overall game lacks the refinement of Bosh’s. The two have comparable size, but Bosh is more willing to get tough rebounds. Bosh also does a better job of playing containment defense, an area where Amar’e seems to lack focus at times.

Also, when considering this as a long term investment strategy, the age of the three contestants must be taken into account. Carlos Boozer is 28 years old. Amar’e Stoudemire is 27. Bosh is only 26.

Professional sports is all about mismatches and players’ abilities to capitalize on them. If a team is going to invest in a player the caliber of James, Wade or Johnson, it only makes sense to solidify that investment by ensuring that his supporting cast can also generate some advantages. Bosh’s versatility makes him the best candidate to fulfill that requirement.

There are already numerous reports of the frontrunners in the free agent chase – New York, Chicago and Miami – all attempting to secure Bosh’s services in hopes that it will set them up for at least one of the ‘Big Two.’

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Wade Becomes the 2010 Official Spokesperson of NBA Free Agency

T Lamont — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:19:37 +0000

With some of the biggest names in the sport available to pick and choose their next destinations, the summer of 2010 figures to be one that will dictate which franchises will be NBA powerhouses over the coming decade.

Given the significance of the decisions to be made, the top free agents – including LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh – are planning to meet and discuss their plans surrounding free agency. The free-agent season actually commences beginning July 1, and six-time All-Star Dwayne Wade announced that the meeting will take place prior to that date:

“I don’t know the date. LeBron went through a very tough loss, so you’ve got to give guys time to get over things and get their schedules clear. But before July 1 we’ll know what we’re going to do and hopefully it’s somewhere quiet.”

“I’m sure a lot of us, when you sit down and everybody puts a list together of opportunities they have, I’m sure a lot of us have a couple of the same opportunities, the same teams they’re looking at. So I’m sure there’s going to be discussion.”

A story coming from the Chicago Tribune added a little more spice to this gumbo, with this piece where Wade apparently questioned the loyalty of the Bulls organization:

“I think the biggest question that you think about has to be loyalty. I know one thing about Miami: It is a very loyal organization. I see what they do with their players when their players get done with the game of basketball … how loyal they are. I don’t know about the Bulls.”

“I see Michael Jordan is not there, Scottie Pippen is not there. … You know, these guys are not a part. Things like that. So that is probably one of the biggest things for me, because I am a very loyal person.”

But then after realizing that he wasn’t an authority on the subject (regarding what Jordan and Pippen aspired to do after their careers), he quickly backtracked on his initial ramblings:

“I’m not taking shots at the Bulls, and the organization. I respect the organization, I respect every organization in the NBA. It’s just that my opinion when the question was asked about what’s most important to you, I said one of the most important things is loyalty. It’s not that I’m taking shots at the Bulls, or I’m taking shots at any organization.”

Outside of the All-Star Game, would these two mega-stars consider playing on the same team?

Either way, it doesn’t sound like the Chicago native will be headed back home to play for the team that he’s not taking shots at.

There are a host of other potential stars who may also throw their names into the pot, specifically Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudamire and Dirk Nowitzki just to highlight a few.

Some may argue that this is not beneficial to the overall development of the league…but really, who cares?

This off-season is about the choices that these young men are going to have to live with for years to come. A little politicking with their constituents is essential and should be expected to ensure that these elite players are happy with their final selections. From a franchise-based perspective, there’s nothing worse than having a super-talented, but non-motivated player on your roster. This whole process should prevent that from occurring.

On the flip side, players need to understand all aspects of their organization – along with the impacts that other players may have on their individual situation or potential for greater success.

And whether he realizes it or not, Wade has just become the 2010 official spokesperson of NBA free agency.