Now that more than a quarter of the season is in the books, we don't have many aberrations in the player rankings as Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and LeBron James comprise the top-five.
An interesting week of prevalent deception is nearly over and the actual picks are hours away. Hundreds of hours have been spent watching the 60 players that 30 teams hope will improve their club in the coming years.
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
RealGM Search
by Brandon Hoffman
Shaquille O?Neal fired back at Stan Van Gundy last night. RealGM's headline says it all: Shaq pulled no punches. So I'm not going to pull any punches on Shaq. For years, O'Neal received a free pass to do and say whatever he pleased. It's no coincidence that he's left every team he's played for on bad terms. His insecurity has led to deteriorating relationships with Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and ultimately resulted in his departure from the Magic, Lakers, and Heat. O'Neal, ever the center of attention, simply can't stand to see someone else in the limelight. And that's what caused the friction between O'Neal and Dwight Howard. He'll never admit it, but Shaq is jealous of the attention Howard's received since winning the dunk contest. And he's probably a tad bit miffed that Howard borrowed his 'Superman' moniker. Nevermind the fact that 'Superman' fits Howard better than it ever fit O'Neal. Shaq certainly fits the 'Man of Steel' description, but Superman's best known for his moral compass and his ability to, you know, FLY. When has Shaq ever flown through the air? O'Neal emerged unscathed from his feud with Kobe Bryant and proceeded to rip Phil Jackson when Jackson had the audacity to question O'Neal's work ethic. Nevermind the fact that Shaq had ballooned to over 400 pounds during his final season in Los Angeles. Shaq also took the opportunity to criticize Pat Riley after he was traded to Phoenix. There have been rumors of a rift between he and Dwyane Wade too, but both parties have done a good job of keeping that under wraps ... for now. But I digress. I can forgive Shaq for his past transgressions, but his criticism of Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard is inexcusable. He had no right to get personal with Van Gundy either. Bosh and Howard are two of the classiest players in the NBA. They're kids. Howard is 23. Bosh is 24. O'Neal should be building them up, not tearing them down. Julius Erving once said: "I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity." Shaq may be able to spin this as another "marketing" ploy with some people, but he'll never regain my respect.
The Pistons aren't rushing Allen Iverson's return from what doctors have diagnosed as a "sore back." Iverson is expected to miss the next two weeks. The Pistons are 22-28 with Iverson as a starter, 3-1 when he doesn?t start and 6-0 without him. I'm not buying Iverson's injury. The MRI was clean. I think AI is having a hard time coming to grips with his new role. And I would be surprised if that wasn't the general consensus around the league. If so, that doesn't bode well for Iverson's free agency after this season. A.I. is no longer capable of leading his team to wins as a go-to scorer. He's better suited to play a reserve role where he can come in and shoot to his heart's content in limited minutes. But if he's unwilling to play that role, his free agency options decrease, and could very well disappear.
Mark Cuban called out the Mavs after their loss to the Thunder. "If each player can't take the personal initiative to make every game important and play like it, I don't see them being here next season," Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. "The ball won't always bounce the way we want it to, but every player can control their level of effort. I don't care what their contract is. I would rather turn over the roster 100 percent than subject fans to another game like [Monday] night." It's good to see an owner who is emotionally invested in his team?s success. But these types of statements don't hold a lot of water with me. Cuban isn't going to trade Dirk Nowitzki. And he loves Jason Kidd. But his comments would lack punch if he ended his diatribe with: "Except Dirk. And you too Jason, you're cool." I know we live in an NBA world dominated by agents and guaranteed contracts, but if you're going to call your players out: Call them out by name. Don't make a blanket statement filled with hollow warnings.
The Fundamentals: Shaq fires back at Van Gundy, the Diesel receives a cold welcome in MIA, the Knicks are still in playoff contention, Utah's climbing up the standings, Sterling rips the Clippers, Rosen grades the Mavs, the real Marbury returns to NJ, Miller's scoring more for Philly, Melo disagrees with his suspension, Newark wants the Nets, & Nate Jones looks at revenue sharing in the NBA.
I'm a day late with this, but here?s a highlight clip featuring LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's duel on Monday night:
Brandon Hoffman is a contributing writer for RealGM and the founder of BallerBlogger.com.
