Category Archives: NBA

Larry Sanders Preps for Comeback

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By Kia Tyus

Marijuana use has increased a lot not only in sports, but also in everyday life of the average citizen. A popular trend has started with many professional athletes testing positive for marijuana use.

Larry Sanders plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks. Currently, Sanders is serving a 10-game suspension without pay for testing positive for marijuana. This is not the first time Sanders has tested positive for marijuana. In fact, Sanders uses marijuana on a regular basis.

Recently, Sanders has been having a revelation about his life. He is now realizing that he needs to find a different way to handle his personal issues without the use of marijuana.

The Bucks have been holding up just fine without Sanders, who by the way is known for his defensive efforts. Sander’s is starting to realize that he may not even get the opportunity to return to the Bucks.

In 2013, Sanders signed a four-year $44 million contract extension. The article states, because of the recent success of the Bucks, the new ownership and new coaches may consider a buyout of Sanders contract. That would give Sanders some money but would leave him without a job.

Personally, I feel like a 10-game suspension is not enough punishment for Saunders. Every professional athlete is well aware of what they can and can’t consume in their bodies. To me, professional athletes feel entitled that the laws don’t apply to them. I feel in part, that this is the authorities fault because they continue to give celebrities a slap on the wrist.

As stated above, a 10-game suspension is not enough. In the NBA that is a little over two weeks. I feel a punishment should be given out to make professional athletes never want to break drug laws ever again.

Many readers who are reading this article may think that, a harsher punishment is not valid. Some of those reasons may be because it is a player’s first offence or even that is could affect the winning percentage of their favorite team. But, in all honesty, rules are rules.

I feel if players start receiving harsher punishments it would reduce the amount of professional athletes testing positive for marijuana.

In the case of Saunders, he has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his career. For any athlete that can affect your mental state. I would suggest counseling for Saunders and if he gets another chance in the NBA, I would suggest he also gets a road therapist to help keep his mind off of smoking marijuana.

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The Cavs Make Moves

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By Kaleb Page

In this early stage of the NBA season the Cleveland Cavaliers have had not even close to the start everyone including themselves had expected. With a record of 19-16 this is still a team searching to find what it is and what it wants to hang its hat on night in and night out. As I said it is still very early so things can change and even with injuries to Kyrie Irving and LeBron James this team still is second in their division and fifth in the eastern conference.

For the GM of the Cavaliers David Griffin, managing this team that has so much potential is a huge task. With Irving and James down and the Cavalier faithful starting to wonder what is up with this team in recent weeks; Griffin needed to find something to re-energize not only the team but the fans as well. On Monday night that opportunity presented itself in a trade.

Prior to the game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers starting shooting guard Dion Waiters was pulled from the line-up. It was then soon broadcast all over the sporting world that a three team deal had been made. This deal would send Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cavaliers, and the Knicks get three players who have non-guaranteed contracts they can dump at the end of the season to further open up their cap space. Along with the players in the deal, the Thunder are giving the Cavs a protected future first-round draft pick and they are also sending a 2019 second-round draft pick to the Knicks.

Quite the deal that happened on a Monday night in the NBA. This move for the Cavaliers was dissected by ESPN’s Tim Legler and he made it clear that this trade really benefits everyone involved. In his break down on SportsCenter, Legler mentioned that this trade addresses a need the Cavs have when it comes to team defense, and with a guy like Shumpert who adds length along with a defensive mindset to the starting line-up; the Cavs made a great deal. He also went on to mention that the swap of Smith for Waiters is a slight upgrade even though both players do have similar playing styles.

With that said I would have to agree with Legler on this trade being really beneficial for the Cavaliers. When you can get a young guy like Shumpert, who is a rising player in the league known for his perimeter defense, it helps improve what the team is lacking right now. Even though Smith is somewhat a loose cannon no matter what team he is on, he has proven to be an offensive weapon capable of going off at any time. It will be interesting to see if these two pieces are able to pay dividends for this team that expects to be in the finals when it is all over.

I would add though that this might not be the end for the Cavaliers as far as deals go. Even though the deal is great, it does miss the hole that is still their post defense. It is hard to find anyone on the market to fill the void left when Anderson Varejao went down, but the team does need to find some type of presence to shore up the back-end just like it did with this trade that added help to the perimeter.

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Acy Gets Antsy: Suspended 1 Game

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By Ellen Chlumecky

Nothing says the holidays quite like fighting, right? However this fight was not over who got the last iPad or the last turkey leg. On Christmas Day, New York Knicks forward Quincy Acy and Washington Wizards guard John Wall participated in a shoving match with one another. Quincy Acy is the one who initiated the shove while John Wall had the ball when the Wizards were winning. While Wall retaliated with a shove of his own and a fight erupted from the shoving. There was talk about Acy throwing a punch but rumors have not been confirmed on whether or not that is true. Both players were separated by their respective teams.

Quincy Acy has been suspended one game while his sparing partner was fined $15,000 by the NBA for their roles in the fight. Both seem to be fitting punishments for the two athletes, correct? It didn’t seem like that big of a fight in comparison to certain fights over the past couple years that happened in the NBA or even in the NHL or NFL. However, any fighting in the NBA is frowned upon and needs to be handled with severity no matter how big or small the fight may be.

When so many more impressionable children are watching professional sports nowadays, the NBA needs to have a firmer grasp on keeping the violence to a minimum. While there is more and more attention being drawn to athletes participating in violent acts off the field, court, or ice, people seem to forget that players can be doing the exact same thing on the field, court, or ice. While this may seem to be a simple, almost juvenile, act of violence it is unacceptable none the less.

Acy not only claimed that he did not throw a punch but also expressed shock when he received word about being suspended. He claimed that he was just trying to foul John Wall saying that he was just trying to stop a fast break and was trying to stop the play. Even his coach, Derek Fisher chimed in saying that he shouldn’t be suspended for shoving because there was in fact no punch thrown. He also stated that he was not upset with Acy’s action because there was no intent behind them.

What these athletes and coaches still don’t seem to understand is that there is always consequences to your actions. Whether it is just a shove or a punch thrown, you are being shown on television for everyone to see. You have to take into account what these people will think about you and wonder what kind of organization lets athletes play like childish boys. Whether or not he had intent to hurt him is beyond the point. Quincy Acy wants to play as a professional then he needs to act like one as well.

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The Warriors Standing Tall in the Wild Wild West

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By Kaleb Page

In today’s NBA it cannot be denied that the Western Conference is the best conference. With teams that are contenders to win not only the West but an NBA title as well. The surprise of the year thus far is the historic start the Golden State Warriors have that sees them sitting a top the Western Conference and in most minds as the best team in the league.

With a team this successful it is also a surprise since the coach is just a first year man. Fresh out of the broadcasting realm, Steve Kerr was granted a great opportunity. After the Warriors let go of coach Mark Jackson they wanted to get a new basketball mind that seemed like the hot item at the time. This past summer when Steve Kerr and Derek Fisher were two of the big names on the market, teams needing a coach looked at them as must haves. With Fisher having a tough time in New York with the Knicks and Kerr finding success with the Warriors it seems that the Warriors got the better end of the deal. There is one caveat to this scenario however.

Is Kerr just the recipient of being handed the keys to an already tuned up machine? For years Golden State was the laughing-stock of the league with no relevance at all, until they hired Mark Jackson who took the role of giving the team an identity and some sense of discipline they had been lacking for years. With Jackson putting in a lot of the leg work it leaves me looking at this run the Warriors are having with some skepticism.

Mainly this is caused by the fact that Jackson was a good coach and for all the work he put in didn’t he deserve a longer leash? I guess sometimes a change is nice, but is there really any difference from this team to last years with Jackson? I don’t see much besides the emergence and progression of players like Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson (just to name a few). These progressions that more than likely were coming even if Kerr wasn’t the coach.

The Washington Post article on Kerr was interesting talking about how this coach could be seeing the Erik Spoelstra treatment in not getting enough credit for what he is doing with the team. While I do hold my reservations since a lot of the foundation was laid by coach Jackson, there is something to be said for what can be done once that foundation is laid down. For what its worth Kerr looks to be making a great foundation into a great project in the works.

Hopefully the work done thus far this year turns out and Kerr can fully show that his coaching is the reason for this success. If Kerr is the bright coveted disciple of the Phil Jackson coaching tree then this Warriors team full of talent could become an all-time great team poised for a great run for years to come with its core of young talent.

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The New York Knicks Woes

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The New York Knicks are off to their worst start in franchise history 5-21. They are becoming a laughing joke in the already terrible eastern conference. There are so many problems within the Knicks organization. Those problems can be the record itself, team chemistry, the coach, and the triangle system. The article Chris Broussard wrote about the Knicks’ woes covers the above topics.

To start everything off, Broussard jumped right into the fact that the Knicks are 5-21 on the season. With any teams, a record like that can be very discouraging. Confidence is at an all time low and frustration is at an all time high. I’m sure, many teams are beginning to not take the Knicks seriously as a basketball team especially since they are in a joke of a conference.

With the losing record, it brings me to Broussard’s second point, team chemistry. Apparently, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Carmelo Anthony, never liked each other and the fact that the Knicks can’t buy a win surely isn’t helping. Insiders have said that players are not working hard in practice and that is transferring over to games.

In fact, players have started to argue in the middle of the games even though they are fully aware that there are cameras everywhere.

The next topic of discussion is the coach Derek Fisher. Many players are used to having a soft practice like previous years with Mike Woodson. Derek Fisher has fast past hard tiring practices and some players are unhappy with that.

I believe that professional athletes can be spoiled ungrateful brats. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that you need to practice hard so the games are easy. In my opinion, Fisher is one of the most respected players to every play the game, he also has multiple championships.

Lastly, the only thing that the Knicks players seem to agree on is they feel like they should stop running the triangle offense. Players feel like it not only is the current offense not working, but also they feel as though the competition knows exactly how to guard the offense.

I feel as though that is just an excuse and if the players would listen and work hard at the offense it could possibly help them. When Knicks owner Phil Jackson was coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, they ran the triangle offense and it won them six championships.

Overall, I feel like the Knicks are starting to give up on the season and it’s so early on. I feel like Phil Jackson definitely needs to consider trading players starting with the obnoxious J.R. Smith and maybe even considering Carmelo Anthony.

Losing a friend trumps getting a win

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By Kaleb Page

Winning a game gives you one of the best feelings in the world. No matter who the opponent is, the way it happens, etc. A win makes everything just that much better.

When an athlete steps on the court or field of play, all distractions and outside matters should be just that; outside of the game that is about to take place. However on Monday night one athlete could not hold back his emotions on one issue outside of the game.

John Wall, as many NBA watchers know, is an electrifying talent that has the potential on any given night to do amazing things for the Washington Wizards. No different was Monday night when Wall put up 26 points on 10-17 shooting, 17 assists (career-high),  three steals and seven rebounds. The game ended with a score of 133-132, a Wizards win that took double overtime and an amazing stretch by Wall that had the game-winning and-one basket to take the lead with seconds remaining.

Sounds like the perfect basketball night right? Wall had almost a triple double, hit the game winner and beat a tough team in the Boston Celtics. Like most times after a big game, the big time player gets pulled aside to be interviewed on his performance and the road ahead. What came next shows a side more people need to see with sports today.

John was pulled aside and asked some questions about the game by CSN Washington’s Chris Miller. One question in particular about Wall’s emotions after this win brought out the one thing weighing on his mind all night. The loss of his friend who was battling cancer.

Wall met a six-year-old girl named Miyah Telemaque-Nelson last March just months after she had been diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. From that point the two were best friends, even prompting Wall to do a campaign to get a meet and great with Nicki Minaji for Miyah (one of Miya’s favorite artists). This entire season Wall has been wearing Miyah’s name on his shoes. Even two weeks ago CSN Washington reported that the two talked over FaceTime, making the text message he received prior to the game of her death hit even more.

In response to the question posed about his emotions, the death brought Wall to only say a few words before being unable to continue.

“This is an emotional game for me. This is for Miyah, one of my closest friends I lost. I met [her] last year. It’s just tough. To see a little kid that fights so hard [against] cancer and can’t beat it. This game is for her. My jersey, my shorts, I’m going to give it to her family. It’s a tough day for me.”– John Wall

After the game wall released a group of photos on his Instagram account of him with Miyah that further showed the friendship they shared and how much Wall cared for what he said was his “buddy.”

“If you were blessed to meet and get to know Miyah you know how special of a little girl she was. I’m saddened by the news but I know that she’s in a better place. Keep her family in your prayers. I’ll definitely miss my buddy. Rest In Peace Miyah.” – From Wall’s Post on Instagram

Lost in the fray of allegations, sexual assaults and cheating scandals are the moments and stories that truly emphasize what makes everyone gravitate to sports no matter what game or event is being played. I know the negatives grab the headlines more and get more publicity, but why not take more time to find these stories? Is it easier to find these negative cases, probably so since a lot involves public record and televised court cases; does it also point to a sense of laziness by sports coverage? I think that it does point to some form of laziness to let stories like the one was see here with John and Miyah get tossed to the side for negative ones time and time again. Hopefully we do see in the future a progression to more stories highlighting the positive moments we have in sports.

Rest in peace Miyah.

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NBA Stars Take a Stand With “I Can’t Breathe T-Shirts”

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By Nick Muhl

In a show of support for Eric Garner and his family, NBA stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams and several other players wore black “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts during the Cleveland Cavaliers game versus the Brooklyn Nets Saturday night.

The players wore the shirts during their pre-game warm ups, copying the move by Bulls point guard Derrick Rose. Rose was the first to wear the shirt during his pre-game warm up before the Bulls game on Saturday.

While LeBron had made many statements throughout the prior week, regarding his displeasure with several highlighted law enforcement related deaths including Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, the decision to wear the shirts came as a surprise to many.

James was interviewed following the game and attributed the symbolic act to “the power of social media.”

James was quoted Sunday requesting a shirt like Rose, through the social media app Twitter, Brooklyn Nets guard Jarrett Jack was able to supply and coordinate wearing the shirts in a sign of peaceful protest.

When the players for both teams came out for pre-game warm ups, the social media world erupted. While the twitter world was scattered with both positive and negative reactions, the #ICantBreathe trend rose back to the top trend on Twitter following the pre-game warm ups, and still remains in the top 5.

Just as LeBron attributed the success of the silent protest to social media, James, Rose, and the other NBA players knew their act of protest would draw attention to the major racial issues and tensions going on recently in the United States – especially on social media.

The NBA is not the only professional sports league to be the topic of headlines regarding players act of protests in the past several weeks. Most notably the NFL’s St. Louis Rams had several players including wide receivers Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt, who demonstrated the “hands up, don’t shoot” sign of protest during pre-game introductions for the team last Sunday.The NFL did not fine any of the Rams players.

According to USA Today’s Sam Amick, the NBA will not fine any of the players for wearing the t-shirts at this time. However, Amick will not provide the name of his source.

LeBron had this to say about the protest following the game,

“As a society we have to do better. We have to be better for one another no matter what race you are. But it’s more of a shoutout to the family more than anything because they’re the ones who should be getting the energy and effort.”

Coverage of the many protests have highlighted the news now for several weeks, and can be expected to for at least several more weeks. It remains to be seen if the NBA players act of protest will continue and how much media attention, as well as social media reaction, it will receive.

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Dirk Nowitzki Records 27,000th Career Point

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By Nick Muhl

Monday Night, in their game versus the Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki scored his 27,000th career point. Nowitzki achieved a huge career milestone in the Mavericks 107-80 win. He now becomes only the fourth player in NBA history, joining Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone, to score 27,000 points with one team.

In his 17th NBA season, the 36-year-old forward jumped over Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon on the all time career scoring list. This is significant because until now Olajuwon, from Nigeria, has been revered as the greatest international basketball player to ever play on the NBA. Nowitzki, born and raised in Germany, now has surpassed Olajuwon’s scoring average and presents a valid argument as the best international player to ever play in the NBA.

In his 17 seasons, Nowitzki has quietly become one of the best players to ever play basketball. In an NBA era highlighted by superstars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and even Tim Duncan, Nowitzki continues to add to his hall of fame resume. The forward has been named to the NBA All Star team 12 times, won one NBA Championship and the second European player to ever win the NBA most valuable player award.

Michael Lee, writer for The Washington Post, highlighted in his Monday night article why it is so significant for an international player to have had such great success in the NBA.

“When Nowitzki entered the league during the lockout-shortened season in 1999, the NBA only had 38 international players and most 7-footers still played with their backs to the basket in an effort to dominate inside. This season, the league has a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories and big men hovering around the perimeter is now commonplace.”

As Lee points out, Nowitzki has not only become such a great player, but opened the doors for more international basketball players to play in the NBA. The forward, in his moment of triumph and spotlight chose to thank the fans for his accomplishment,

“It was a really special moment to do it at home in front of the fans who have been with me through my 16-17 years here and they gave me a great standing ovation. At the next timeout they showed a video with moments from my career – that was really special and definitely I had some goosebumps. I was just thinking what an amazing ride it has been and how lucky I have been to really come here with an open mind and have people be great to me.”

Hopefully, as his final seasons quickly approach, the Dallas forward will receive more media attention as he continues to break career milestones. His accomplishments have not only opened the door for more international basketball players to join the NBA, but for their accomplishments to be more recognized by sports media.

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Started from the Bottom Now We’re Here

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By Ellen Chlumecky

On Saturday night, Derrick Rose once again sat out against the Indiana Pacers because he was recovering from a strained left hamstring. Rose and Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls coach, are trying to give the injury time to heal and be patient with his recovery.

The Bulls ended up losing on Saturday to the Indiana Pacers 90 to 99. There was a player on the court that night who showed the United Center that the Bulls have a new star filling in for Rose. While the Bulls looked uninhabited on Saturday, this player gave life to the team. That player’s name is Jimmy Butler. While the team didn’t get the W, Butler scored a career high of 32 points.

This career high may be something new to Butler but the consistency of his point scoring has been unstoppable this season. Butler has shown his team that he can be a force to reckon with not only on defense, but recently on offense as well.

Kicked to the curb at the young age of 13, Butler had very little to look forward to in his life. After he was finally adopted by a kind family, Butler spent time playing for Tyler Junior College trying to get a college scout to notice him. He worked hard on the court and off the court academically and eventually received an offer to go to Marquette. Marquette’s coach, Buzz Williams, pushed him hard and saw the immense potential that Butler had. Working day in and day out at Marquette, Butler became the 30th pick overall by the Chicago Bulls. Now at only 25 years old, Butler is making a splash while star player Rose is out right now.

So working hard is nothing new for Jimmy Butler especially with his rough past. With Derrick Rose out, the entire team needs to step up in terms of point scorers and leadership. However, all the Chicago Tribune can talk about right now is how Derrick Rose is currently out.

I understand that Derrick Rose’s recovery is something that all Bulls’ fans are dying for right now, but when a rookie made a career high of 32 points it is something important to celebrate. I personally believe that Derrick Rose leads the Bulls effectively and efficiently but while he is out, players need to step up. And the fact that Butler is trying to, says a lot about his character as a player.

While NBA.com did not think Butler accomplished enough in the game because they didn’t win, just like Rose, it will not bring Butler down. Butler has overcome adversity in so many different ways. Nothing in his life came easy to him. I’m sure that losing a game to the Pacers doesn’t qualify as the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. Congratulations to Jimmy Butler, I look forward to seeing more from you and I cannot wait to see what you and Rose can do when he’s back.

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The Poor Decisions of the Los Angeles Lakers

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By Kia Tyus

Kelly Dwyer wrote a compelling article about the Los Angeles Lakers recent poor decisions in recent years; most notably their signing of Kobe Bryant to a two-year $48.5 million.

Dwyer brought on the point that just about everyone thought that the Lakers made a ridiculously poor decision. Everyone except the Buss family and Bryant has a firm understanding that Bryant is by no means able to play at the level of a $48.5 million contract.

Dwyer also points out that the Lakers organization is very careless with their money because they know that they have the money to spend.

On of the best comparisons that was made in the article was how Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki took pay cuts to make sure that there respective organizations had money to spend on free agency without going over the luxury tax. Dwyer also noted that Duncan and Nowitzki respective teams got a good bargain with their recent contract extinctions.

The Lakers are clearly in a different market that most National Basketball Association teams. I like how Dwyer stated facts like the San Antonio Spurs aren’t getting $2 billion dollar TV deals. And that even with Bryant’s recent contract the Lakers still have plenty of cap space to sign free agents.

Which brings Dwyer’s next point in the recent Laker’s poor spending habits. The Lakers should have never hired Mike Brown. The Lakers were looking at whom Brown was coaching instead of his actual coaching ability. Second, the Lakers spent a large sum of money when they acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. This was a huge waist of money because Howard lasted a year and played terribly and Nash has yet to have a healthy season with the Lakers.

Dwyer also helped his claim when he stated that they shouldn’t have hired Mike D’Antoni because they didn’t have the offensive weapons to run a D’Antoni offense and Byrant under his new contract has yet to play a full season and is in is 19th NBA season coming off of two major injuries on both legs.

Dwyer wrote a great article about the Lakers poor choices over the last few years. He stated multiple facts and gave great examples about how their poor choices have done nothing but harm the team. In fact, the Lakers have started the 2014-15 season 1-7.

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