From Elias: “Nate Robinson told SLAM Magazine recently: “I might go play football, do something that nobody’s tried to do.” However, should Robinson play in the NFL, he would NOT be the first player to play a game in the NFL and NBA. According to ELIAS, at least 6 players played in both the NFL and NBA (or BAA), including Bud Grant, who played for the Lakers and then played in the NFL before gaining the most fame as head coach of the Vikings.”
Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com on Nate Robinson: “Does Robinson have a chance, or is this idle chatter? An NBA/NFL hybrid career is unprecedented in the modern era, made impossible because of their concurrent schedules. That said, elite athletes in the NBA are likely to be elite athletes in the NFL, given the similar demand for quickness, strength and agility. One would think the outside positions, wide receiver and cornerback, along with special teams would be the easiest places for a basketball-to-football transition to occur. And, at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, Robinson is in the right ballpark to play corner and clearly has superior leaping ability, evidenced by his three NBA Slam Dunk crowns.” Read more…
Prior to the draft, it was pretty much agreed upon that if the Thunder needed anything, it would probably be a capable wing to spell Kevin Durant when needed. Preferably a player with some defensive chops and the ability to drill an open shot.
Why? Mainly because with the high probability of James Harden moving into the starting five, the bench loses a little bit of firepower. Reggie Jackson certainly might alleviate some of that as a combo scoring guard, and Thabo can slide over to a natural backup of Durant, which might be better suited for him (10-15 minutes a game for Thabo makes a lot more sense than 25-30).
That’s the probable scenario and truly, the Thunder standard operating procedure. Don’t overextend on a veteran that may or may not help. Instead, bring in a talented but raw player, put him in the program and watch him grow into the piece you need. That’s the idea with Jackson and with his ability, I’m confident he could become a bit of a Russell Lite off the bench and help replace Harden’s scoring punch.
Still, it’s likely there will be a roster spot available (Oklahoma City’s full at 15 right now, but Royal Ivey isn’t guaranteed and there hasn’t been a resolution on Daequan Cook yet) and the Thunder will have some cap space — I think. (You know, that whole CBA thing could affect that.) If Cook stays with the team there might not be a lot of cash to spend, but there will be some at least, if Presti is willing. Read more…
KD has been on his now annual tour of China the past couple weeks and with word of him possibly looking into overseas options to play this year if the lockout drags on, it’s pretty obvious he’s becoming a major international star. If he isn’t already.
And to just drive that home even more is news that KD will join Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose in an exhibition game in the Philippines for charity.Via SLAM:
The three stars will be part of a selection that will play a pair of charity exhibition games against SMART-Gilas Philippines national team and an all-star squad from the Philippine Basketball Association. Proceeds of the games will go to the MVP Sports Foundation, whose goal is to uplift Philippine sports and to develop Filipino athletes.
There isn’t a date set yet for the game, but it would be held in Manilla.
I don’t necessarily think the stuff about KD maybe playing overseas is related to this, but it’s obvious that Durant is fine and comfortable outside of the United States. And it definitely doesn’t hurt to expand the brad globally either.
KD’s agent is exploring overseas options: “If the opportunity presents itself and the lockout persists, he’s going to have to consider it just as other players are considering it,” Goodwin told SI.com. “Kevin has shown some interest to know what the situation is and we’ll reach out to the players’ association and make sure that they’re aligned with the guys in case they do take an offer. But I think what you’re going to see happening is a lot of players are going to look at the opportunity if the lockout prolongs that they can go somewhere and play basketball.” Read more…
So this is what happens when you finish a 10-year NBA career and then become an artist living in Oklahoma. You start getting roles in Chris Kattan movies.
Former Oklahoma State star and inaugural Thunder player Desmond Mason is going to be in some movie called “Just Crazy Enough,” which is about two twins separated at birth and one is a mental patient and the other is a psychiatrist. How wacky!
Mason is playing a mental patient in an asylum and he only speaks in cliches, unable to hold a normal conversation with anyone. A former NBA player only speaking in cliches? Scott Brooks is like, “That’s acting? I call that, ‘talking’.”
The movie is being filmed in Oklahoma and Mason says his role is “a pretty big part,” according to the Tulsa World.
So why is Desmond Mason in this movie, if we’re OK calling it that? How did he get involved? The World explains.
It’s a depressing time to be an NBA fan. Right about now, we should be ready to start watching the recently drafted rookies playing ball, albeit sloppy ball, in the Vegas summer league.
The moratorium on free agent activity should be coming to a close with the actual trading and free agent signings starting up this week.
Internet chatter and debate should be at a yearly high and thankfully, it would’ve been a “Decision” free off season.
Most importantly, the Oklahoma City Thunder are contenders for the crown and any basketball missed is bad for any diehard Thunder fan.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Instead, we have ourselves in the midst of a lockout, the first one in the NBA since 1998 and since it’s just day 7 of this mess when this article went to press, we’re most likely looking at a best case scenario of another 2 months of no basketball and possibly much more. Read more…
Jenni Carlson says Yao opened China up for KD: “And that’s good news for Thunder fans. Durant can grow his brand while playing here in Oklahoma City. Granted, being a big brand isn’t the be all, end all for players — being able to contend for championships is a big deal, too — but it’s one thing that Oklahoma City doesn’t have to worry about when it comes to the face of the franchise. He doesn’t have to be in one of those major cities to be known all across the globe. Durant has Yao to thank for that. OKC has the big man to thank for that, too.”
Kendrick Perkins returned to his hometown Beaumont with a big smile: “He was at the park to greet kids who were signing up for his basketball camp that will be held next month at Ozen. “I’m goofy all the time,” Perkins said. “My wife calls me a big teddy bear.” One thing Perkins guarantees is that he isn’t headed to Turkey, or anywhere outside of the United States, for that matter.” Read more…
Chris Palmer of ESPN.com on Russell Westbrook’s needed areas of improvement: “Clearly, Westbrook needs to reevaluate his approach. He’ll get his points but needs to become a savvier game manager and embrace the role of primary facilitator. The challenge for him is to become more selective when it comes to scoring opportunities. Because Westbrook can beat just about anyone to the rim, doing so often becomes his primary focus, which can come at the expense of setting his teammates up. Developing an 8-to-12-foot pull-up in the lane would also be a wise decision, as it would give him a nearly indefensible tool that would allow him to cut back on his forays to the rim and score more efficiently.”
Jenni Carlson writes that the system isn’t broken, just the owners are: “When weeks turn to months and emotions bubble over during the lockout, I hope everyone will remember the true villains in this whole thing. Bad owners. Not good owners. Not players. Not the NBA. Bad owners wanted to be bailed out the last time the league locked out its players, and a little over a decade later, they want to be saved again.” Read more…
As for L.A., there’s a rumor the Lakers will trade center Andrew Bynum to Oklahoma City for Kendrick Perkins and guard Nate Robinson. Bynum believes Kobe Bryant is too old to win again, that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can win more than Kobe (who has won five titles) ever did.
Will trade. Meaning it’s going to happen.
Also, he’s “heard” that J.R. Smith will reunite with Byron Scott in Cleveland, that Chris Bosh might be dealt to Dallas for Jason Kidd and Brendan Haywood and that Tony Parker wants to play with Blake Griffin in Los Angeles. And also because for some reason it’ll give him a better chance to reconcile with Eva Longoria. Seriously. He wrote this.
Now. There’s a very good chance Finney is trying to prove some kind of point with this column, that NBA rumors are out of control, that by tossing out a few “I’ve heard” or “they say” that people (read: bloggers) will take the bait and run with it. He might be trying to do that. Read more…
Kevin Durant wrapped up his Nike Skills Academy in Chicago last week and Justine Brown of iamNBA.com took a ride with KD as he headed to the camp. She asked Durant about his Skills Academy, Reggie Jackson, what he wants to improve at and of course, the lockout.
Howard Bryant of ESPN.com talking sense: “Instead of learning from baseball, living with an imperfect system and refusing to chance losing the public, the NBA seems ready to try the nuclear option used by the the NHL of 2004-05. After three work stoppages in 13 years, commissioner Gary Bettman and hockey owners canceled an entire season and in return received prohibitive, favorable labor terms (a hard salary cap, huge reductions in payroll). The players, trying to rally five years later, hired the legendary Fehr in December. Their message: Yesterday’s defeat would someday be avenged.” Read more…
Following some really interesting dialogue at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference about game experience and the future of live sports, I wanted to talk Thunder Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brian Byrnes about how the Thunder might fit in there. I’ve been saving this conversation for a rainy day and well, thanks lockout, I guess.
First, thanks for taking the time to talk to me. I know you’re a busy man (or at least was when I talked to him).
I always have time to talk about our business.
The first thing I wanted to ask about was that Mark Cuban said the Mavericks sink “hundreds of thousands” of dollars into just video presentations alone at games. I know the Thunder don’t do anything like that, but is the budget pretty substantial for game presentation?
Well, first of all, the answer to the first question that do we spend a good amount of our resources on the game presentation is an overwhelming yes. Mark’s comment I think was more attributed to their video development. I would suggest that we do a fair of that by the way. I don’t know that it’s as much as Dallas does though.
It’s probably one of our biggest investments in terms of business. Obviously I’m not speaking to the basketball side of things in terms of investment in players, but if you think of just the business, one of the more sizable investments we make both from a monetary perspective and a resource perspective is to create the most energetic and compelling game experience we can. Read more…
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on things that should get you pumped about next year: “Let’s start with the Thunder. Durant will have had the entire lockout to stew over that playoff loss, to struggle with the first real failure of his professional career. He and Russell Westbrook will either align agendas and form some sort of altered version of Jordan-Pippen or they’ll explode in some sort of Marbury-KG inferno. Harden is the third piece, ready to take over the third wheel function and complete the Big 3 for OKC. They’re still young, Perkins will be healthier, and they’ll still be young.”
Tracy Graven of HoopsHype on if small markets can even survive a lockout: “OKC’s unemployment rate is one of the best in the nation; of course, that’s before an extended lockout will cost people their aforementioned jobs. They are in the Top 15 at only 4.9 percent. Those who normally reap the benefits of Jazz games are the next closest to Oklahoma City in unemployment rate at No. 98.” Read more…
Kurt Helin of PBT takes on my hard cap small market thing: “Which is to say, the NBA’s middle class will go away. What drives up the Lakers payroll is less Kobe and more Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest. They can afford to go over the cap and pay to keep good role players around their stars. But those days will end, it will be the high priced stars and the cheap guys around them. And some smaller teams that draft well will have to break up that core because they will bump up against the hard cap. It’s one reason I think in the end you will still see a soft cap — one with far fewer exceptions but one that lets teams keep their cores together. Because what we want to see is good basketball, and drafting a team that can grow together is one of the best ways to get that.”
From Elias: “Nate Robinson told SLAM Magazine recently: “I might go play football, do something that nobody’s tried to do.” However, should Robinson play in the NFL, he would NOT be the first player to play a game in the NFL and NBA. According to ELIAS, at least 6 players played in both the NFL and NBA (or BAA), including Bud Grant, who played for the Lakers and then played in the NFL before gaining the most fame as head coach of the Vikings.”
