Turning out to be one of the worst playoffs in terms of injuries/time lost for key players...No?

Am I missing anyone?

Blake
Rondo
Gobert
Durant
Hayward

CrushAlot wrote:Nba needs to review focus enforce shots and continuations. Harden should not get the calls he gets.

Harden does a good job of creating close contact in his favor, that's to his credit. He knows how to draw fouls. He also plays in the efficient style that Daryl Morey wants, they are on the same page.

Any Houston Rocket player gets an international boost in marketing, just the way it's always been. Sort of a legacy from the Yao Ming days and carried over when Lin was there.

He gets a lot of "8 On 5" Leverage that Stern used to make sure certain players got in the league. If you sell a lot of shoes, you will get a lot of calls in your favor. Westbrook is the same way. Once they lose their athleticism some, Westbrook and Harden will simply start jumping into other players to create contact, much like Wade has done for the past few years now.

Sadly, the best thing any player can do for his career in the NBA is to marry a pop star. One of the very best things that Mark Cuban did for himself was get onto the show Entourage. It appeals to that narcissistic "you can be more than a superior athlete, you can also be a singer, rapper, fashion mogul, actor, talk show personality, super celebrity, on your own box of Wheaties" crap a lot of these players just covet. There was an interview long where Chris Webber spent like 20 minutes talking about how he could have been a world class actor, had all these opportunities to branch out and just do more than basketball, and it was just hilarious. The dude has no charisma. Yes, because Hollywood is clamoring to have a nearly 7 foot guy who can barely enunciate a functional sentence to join DiCaprio in the next Scorsese movie. When Alonzo Mourning has his kidney problems and needed a transplant, and got like 18 offers for kidneys the next day after it went public, he seemed genuinely surprised he was starting to get open death threats. ( Funny how people on the transplant list watching their kids die slow might not vibe too well with the whole thing....)

"We make a lot of money but we spend a lot of money too" - Patrick Ewing

I think David Stern did the best he could. He marketed the drama and the soap opera conflict because he was stuck with a league full of out of touch idiots.

That the league administration is actively and openly looking to job the Golden State Warriors and Kevin Durant for playing team ball ( but not the best "marketing ball") says so many negative things about the modern game itself.

Harden and Westbrook and the like, even back to old Allen Iverson, shows it's more important to get that 8 On 5 and have the refs on your side to sell the most shoes over actually playing the right way. If Lance Thomas married a Kardashian, he'd make an All Star game, sadly it would end up true if it happened.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/857078404578979843

GustavBahler wrote:Maybe its just me, but LeBron actually looks better slashing to rim than before. Looks more effective using his dribble to get past his defender in transition or half court. Isnt just bullying his way to the rim. Impressive.

His 3 pt game is now more consistent. That is the reason he is more effective driving to the basket. He is catching defenders trying to run him out of the 3.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/MayorMemphis/status/857622511323926529

franco12 wrote:did you see Demar's dunk? WOW!