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Maybe you remember an old Sirius XM radio advertisement. The spot highlighted the men who changed music (Elvis Presley), comedy (Richard Pryor), sports (Michael Jordan) and radio (Howard Stern).
If and when the title is bestowed upon a sportswriter, it will no doubt be former ESPN.com’s “Sports Guy” Bill Simmons. As the daily newspaper sports section diminishes; finding a new home on the world wide web, perhaps no one personifies this revolution better than Simmons.
The fallout from the Donald Sterling tape continues, as Clippers’ President Andy Roeser will be taking an indefinite leave of absence, the NBA league office announced on Tuesday.
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After all the major changes we saw during the past few months of the off-season in the NBA, the balances in the league have drastically changed. The 2013-2014 campaign will be with no doubt very different from the previous one, as new some teams will emerge to the forefront of the league, while others, which lost power, will not be competitive. Let’s see which teams that were previously not very strong, will emerge as contenders next season.
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Lance Stephenson went by the nickname “Born Ready” as one of the nation’s top high-school basketball players and one of the most decorated New York prep products.
Often times, during his one year at Cincinnati and his first two seasons with the Indiana Pacers, Stephenson made folks wonder if the “Born Ready” tag was purely hype and little substance amid instances of immaturity and lack of production.
However, with Danny Granger sidelined for virtually the entire 2012-13 season with a knee injury, the 6-6 Stephenson capitalized on the opportunity at starter’s minutes, and he put a huge exclamation on his remarkable improvement last Saturday with a 25-point, 10-rebound effort (including a clutch nine-point fourth quarter) to lead the Pacers to a series-clinching Game 6 victory over the New York Knicks and a date with the Miami Heat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals, which begin with today’s Game 1 at 8:30 p.m. in Miami.
That Game 6 performance suggested Stephenson indeed may have been “Born Ready.” The Pacers hope that’s the case regardless, but it very well might be key to their chances at defeating Miami and earning a trip to their first NBA Finals since 2000.
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At the NFL Combine, there was speculation over the sexuality of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o. And his answer, “far from it, farrrrrrrrr from it” on Katie Couric actually didn’t help things. It just reeks of over-compensation. And Te’o is Mormon, which is so strict it’s like…if Christianity is cocaine than Mormonism is crack.
But this isn’t about just Te’o. Earlier this week Colorado tight end Nick Kasa admitted that during the NFL combine a team asked him if he “liked girls”. Because of Kasa’s comments, the NFL is looking to investigate whether or not there is any truth to Kasa’s claims about questions he was asked during the combine. And now, Michigan State running back Le’Veon Bell is reporting that he was also indirectly asked about his sexuality. h/t Down and Distance
This comes off the heels of a recently retired NFL veteran being out after a fight with his boyfriend over soy sauce led to legal charges.
So when will we see an openly gay male athlete in one of the four team sports?
I think sports may lag the rest of society here, and it could be a long time before we see an openly gay male athlete in the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL- mostly because of the atmosphere, reputation and language of the locker room. Of course, I regard that as a travesty because if you can integrate lifestyle differences in the military -an even bigger bastion of so called manliness- you can do the same in sports.
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We’ve been hearing since Paul George’s rookie season in 2010-11 that he could be the Indiana Pacers’ No. 1 guy and even a NBA-wide star.
It appears George is approaching — or already has approached — that status.
With stellar performances in back-to-back wins against the East’s first- and second-place teams, the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks (albeit without Carmelo Anthony), George is making the basketball world take notice of his marked improvement as a game changer on both offensive and defensive ends of the floor. [Read more…]
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Joakim Noah (11 Pts,13 Reb,10 Ast) had his 2nd career triple-double to lead the Chicago Bulls to 100-89 win over the Boston Celtics last night. Chicago has won 8 of their last 11 with Noah leading the way in the absence of Derrick Rose. Noah now has 2 career triple-doubles; the last Bulls frontcourt player before him with a triple-double was Dennis Rodman in 1996.
Since March 2008 a center has recorded a triple-double with points, rebounds and assists twice. Both times it was Noah. Given the dearth of true centers in the game today, he really should be an All-Star.
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When Jimmy Butler was drafted by the Chicago Bulls out of Marquette, eventually the idea was that he would replace Ronnie Brewer, and have a similar role within the bench mob. Now that Brewer is gone (and with him Kyle Korver, meaning 2/3 of the Chicago Jazz or Utah Bulls are now gone) it’s ready to happen.
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The Chicago Bulls will begin the season without Derrick Rose, of course, but they won’t have to begin the year without Kirk Hinrich. He’s back with the Bulls after signing with the team as a free agent this offesason. He will start alongside Richard Hamilton, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah tonight in the opener versus the Sacramento Kings.
Hinrich had been injured and missed significant time this exhibition season.
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The Indiana Pacers were hoping to enter the 2012-13 NBA season with improved depth after shaking up their roster considerably during the summer.
What depth they do have took a hit Tuesday and will be tested early and often.
Pacers forward Danny Granger has been dealing with pain in his left knee and will be out indefinitely, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. That leaves Indiana without its top scorer each of the past five seasons for now, starting with tonight’s season opener at Toronto.
How will the Pacers look to compensate for Granger’s loss, however long it might last?
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The results of NBA.com’s 11th annual GM Survey are in. NBA.com once again surveyed the General Managers of all 30 NBA teams, collecting their responses to over 50 questions associated with teams, players, coaches and more. Entering the 2012-13 NBA season, GMs predict the Miami Heat will repeat as NBA Champions; LeBron James will once again take home MVP honors; and New Orleans ’ Anthony Davis will claim Rookie of the Year.
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It’s almost that time of year again. Wait, is it? But football hasn’t even started its regular season yet? In less than three months, the NBA will be tipping-off the 2012-2013 season when the Boston Celtics travel to Miami to take on LeBron James and the Heat. With all that said, let’s take a look at 10 questions surrounding next season.
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