Le Basketbawl

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to be asked to join a round-table panel in a series of polls asking “The Best and Brightest” of NBA bloggers their choices for the Association’s MVP and Rookie Of The Year. It has been a very cool experience getting to trade opinions with some of the most knowledgeable people on the planet about the NBA.

As much as I always enjoy participating in this meeting of the minds, this installment gives me even more pleasure  because it is being held on by my good buddy Mookie’s website A Stern Warning. Mookie is a native of Australia now living in England. Australians are very cool people; they are kind of a hybrid. They are more refined than we “Yanks” but not as stuffy as the British (Yes I remember Paul Hogan, but we have Andy Dick! Case closed!)

Tuesday marked the debut of the Round 8 of the NBA MVP/ROY rankings. I found some very insightful comments, and selections, and believe you will too. So direct your web browser to A Stern Warning for some great NBA commentary.

My good buddy Kyle Slavin over at The Second Coming always brings a fun and unique perspective to the NBA with most times toungue planted firmly in cheek! Recently Kyle mentioned the newest fragrance being introduced by Tommy Hilfiger; Desperation Is A Stinky Cologne: The Trade Deadline Blog. Here’s a taste:

Ah, to be an NBA GM. You could probably club baby seals in your bathtub and not get fired! That being said, there are new faces in new places, and that deserves analysis, gosh darn it. Ignoring the lower-level transactions (my apologies, Tyronn Lue), we present the desperation slings and season-ending catastrophies of the 2009 trade deadline:

Kyle breaks down the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as only he can! Check his analysis out at The Second Coming!

When it comes to his career on the hardwood Michael Jordan was an NBA God. Arguably along side Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles they comprise the “Holy Trinity” of the Association. However when it has come to his post playing days in the NBA M.J. has never come close to matching his success during his playing days.

Jordan spoke with the “Associated Press” this week about his less than stellar record at judging NBA talent. The former Chicago Bulls legend is now a part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, and he takes full responsibility for the drafting of former Gonzaga standout Adam Morrison. Charlotte traded Morrison along with guard Shannon Brown to the Los Angeles Lakers for forward Vladimir Radmanovic. The Bobcats took Morrison with the number three pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. He missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in his left knee in a exhibition contest. Needless to say Morrison did not live up to Jordan or the team’s expectations.

Jordan told reporters that Morrison did not fit in with what first year Charlotte coach Larry Brown was trying to accomplish with the team. Jordan said “Coming off an injury last year, he seemed to have lost his confidence a little bit. He didn’t have the understanding of how Larry expected him to play both offensively and defensively. And I felt like something needed to happen for Adam as well as the organization.”

M.J. went on to say that he believes that he has gained some wisdom after the disappointing results of Morrison’s career in Charlotte.  He said “I think we’ve grown from it. I’ve grown from it and hopefully down the road when you make a choice, you try to make a better choice. People are going to point out the mistakes. Very rarely do they point out the successes. I understand that. It’s part of the game.”

Michael, come on now! People were never reticent about pointing out your successes as a player. The true problem is as someone who is trying to put together a winning franchise, there really have been no successes for anybody to point out. I understand you are not used to failure (except in baseball!) Welcome to the way the rest of we mortals live!

Once again the round table panel that consists of a virtual who’s who of NBA websites to determine the Association’s MVP and Rookie Of The Year Award winners has spoken, and the results have been published. And once again we are pleased at Le Basketbawl that we are a part of this esteemed panel. Round Seven was published on February 10, and can be found at  Blogger MVP/Roy Rankings: Hoopus Edition. We hope you enjoy the results.

Sometime during LeBron James first or second season playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, I told him that he would know he reached icon status, when he could get an old man like myself to add a pair of his sneakers to my collection of vintage “Air Jordans“.  This just might be the pair!  Our friends at Osneaker.com just sent us some information on a pair of kicks, that look pretty sharp to me!  It’s called the “Nike Zoom LeBron James VI Taxi Cab Edition” and is available exclusively through Osneaker.com.  The shoes were released exclusively in Manhattan last week in a limited run, are sure to become a collectors item.  Check out Osneaker.com for more information.