Category — Chris Kaman

Is that you Boston?
Can’t believe my daughter the Celtic fan hasn’t mentioned they’ve lost 5 in a row, the latest to the Thunder and Kendrick Perkins tonight in Boston.
NewsOK.com

Do the Clippers vote David Stern a share of playoff coin if they win it all?
In a poll of 30 ESPN writers and personalities, 25 of them picked the Heat to win this season’s NBA title. Three of them picked the Bulls and 2 predicted the Thunder would win it all.
Us? As much as Miami is the safe pick, we’re rolling with our homies (Thunder). Now beam us up Scottie.
ESPN.com

It’s a Heat-Thunder NBA final waiting to happen. Can’t argue with that.
Fox Sports

Forget the Lakers getting the shaft in the Chris Paul deal. The Rockets are reeling too. And the reputation of Hornets’ GM Dell Demps. Can you spell s-l-a-n-d-e-r?
Adrian Wojnarowski pens 1 of the best pieces I’ve read so far regarding this hijacking by David Stern and the NBA.
Yahoo Sports

In the past week, the Clippers have signed Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups. Now, with a huge assist from David Stern and a colluding group of NBA owners, they’ve added Chris Paul to the mix, making them a major threat in the Western Conference. We imagine Stern will be in Dallas on Opening Day to watch the Heat-Mavericks tilt, but would he be so inclined to catch his new product tip off in the Bay Area on Christmas night?
ESPN LA
Obviously, Lakers are pissed: Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall at their headquarters?
L.A. Times

After being a long-time subscriber to Direct TV’s NBA package, which broadcasts the majority of league contests almost every night, I refuse to pay the $159 fee (down from the $189 from last season) this season. Just couldn’t contribute to this farce David Stern and owners such as Michael Jordan and Dan Gilbert are selling.
If it were smart, the league could have performed a PR stroke of genius by giving the package away free, but that isn’t in the DNA of people like Jordan or Gilbert.

At least the Clip Joint seems to have a plan instead of the Lakers, who apparently can’t see straight and got nothing for dealing Lamar Odom to the Mavericks.
And now that the Clippers have Chauncey Billups in the mix, they would be foolish to trade for Chris Paul. The NBA and its gang of colluding owners want too much for him. Why give away the farm for a 1-year rental?
ESPN LA

You can tell homie is from Oklahoma. Just a good dude. Did we mention the Boley Bears played against the old man’s Classen Comets back in the day? Didn’t think so. If memory serves me right, Tommy was a senior and I was a freshman. Fortunately, I never got off the bench that night.
L.A. Times

For the record, the writer is a white guy.
So much for labor peace.
With 1 mighty veto, David Stern turned the 1st day of training camp into a public relations nightmare for the NBA.
The league commissioner and thus the final voice in the workings of the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets, Stern proved he was really not in charge. We knew that though from the lockout.
The true men behind the curtain are those small-market owners who want what’s best for them and not the league.
Some only signed the new labor deal with their eyes shut and while holding their noses.
They wanted more, though missing the entire season would have been OK for them.
They were back at it again Thursday.
When the Hornets made what looked like a good trade to send free-agent-to-be guard Chris Paul to the Lakers, it seemed New Orleans was on its way back.
The Hornets, who will get nothing for Paul when he leaves at the end of this season — and he will leave — were going to get 3 likely starters and some help for the future. Even the Rockets were getting better.
Now the Hornets get nothing. The deal may not be dead but it is clearly on life support.
All this to keep a group of owners unable or unwilling to pay top dollar happy.
This was exactly what the NBA lockout was all about.
Forget losing money and fans. This still is about power. Power to the unfortunate people such as Dan Gilbert and Michael Jordan. Mark Cuban even singing the NBA’s praises for shooting down this deal. And why not? All the clubs are in the Western Conference and in Mark’s vicinity. And damn the Lakers and the horses they’re riding now.
NBA owners saw players gaining power through free-agent moves and forced trades and they didn’t like it.

How dare they decide where they want to live and raise their families. What, they think this is a free county?
They argue about competitive balance, about the little guys having a fighting chance. The NBA has never been about small guys. Nope, it’s all about power. Owners make sure they keep it that way.
Even more so, this might be a little title envy.
If the Lakers get Paul and then Dwight Howard, they would again be a title contender.
The Lakers have fleeced sad franchises for their talents in the past and won, which hardly makes them evil or unique, just the Yankees and Red Sox of the NBA. Or the Celtics.
The league backed itself into a corner. Will the Association now try to run all 30 teams when it comes to trades so Orlando can’t deal Howard to the New Jersey-Brooklyn Nets?
But those owners are missing the bigger picture.
By keeping Paul away from the Lakers and telling players to watch their steps, they are doing their own product an injustice.
History has shown that the NBA is good when the big markets are winning. Ratings and sales are up and so is the value of franchises.
By keeping Paul away from L.A., at least for the moment, the owners are hurting their own product.
It is a selfish move which seems to mirror that of the players who are creating these mega teams.
Let it go. It is the only way to really begin a healing process that will need a long time to sort out.
However, for now, this is just another indication of how divided and messed up the NBA really is.
Just ask Chris Paul.

The NBA lockout has come to an end, with the players and the owners agreeing to a tentative deal early this morning. The season will tip off Christmas Day with a tripleheader, including Derrick Rose and the Bulls visiting the Lakers.
N.Y. Times