It now has Allen Iverson, who was greeted at the airport with, as The 700 Level writer Enrico put it, a “Beatles-esque reception.” It’s worth noting, however, that Enrico was quick to subsequently point out that he actually has “no idea how the Beatles would have been received in Turkey” so take that liar’s word for what it’s worth.

Some people.

And for anyone who was a hip hop head in the 90s, this list is great nostalgia. I never went to The Tunnel myself (only moved to NYC in 2000 and it was shut down permanently within a year), but more so than some of these songs still being great today (many still are), the visceral feeling of first hearing joints like “Simon Says,” “Ante Up,” “Wild Out” and “My Mind Right” is something that stays with you. There’s really no way to describe them other than “banger.” Most importantly, while clicking through this whole list over the past five hours was the first time I’d listened to NORE’s “Superthug” in like five years. Regrettable, I know, but at least it happened.

Thanks, Cipha.

The reason this is being posted on an NBA blog is that Complex did a follow-up post featuring some of the many flyers they used to put out to promote the Sunday Tunnel parties. And one of them was the flyer below for a Sunday night party after the 1998 NBA All-Star Game in Madison Square Garden.

Wonder if Cipha (or anyone else) has any stories from that night. I’d sure like to hear one.

Maybe Arash was there …

In the Spring of 2007, I was just a young pup in this NBA blogging world. Since then, I have accumulated literally dozens of readers and made untold tens of dollars writing about the NBA, but back then the only people reading this blog were me and Drop Dead Fred. (He didn’t even like it … I just spammed his Gmail account with links to my posts.)

Then, on April 4, 2007, I did a post called “The Top 50 NBA Commercials of All Time” that got linked to from Henry Abbott’s new ESPN version of TrueHoop and a cavalcade of other NBA blogs that probably don’t even exist anymore and, like, 40,000 people showed up. Since my previous high in any day was somewhere south of 4 unique users, it was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, within the year I switched hosting companies and perhaps-due-to-nonpayment (who remembers really?), I lost pretty much all my old content in the transfer. It seemed like a bummer at the time, but honestly the commercial thing and like three other posts were probably the only not completely terrible things I ever did. Still, losing stuff sucks.

HOWEVER, through the miracle of the a tech-smart friend of mine, I was recently able to recover some stuff. And so, mostly because I want to put it back in my archives, I’m re-posting it as it was originally posted verbatim in April, 2007. (Thus, forgive the omission of any spots from the last three years that warrant inclusion.)

Additionally, this may as well be the formal launch of “The NBA Commercial Project,” which will be an attempt to gather links to video for every NBA commercial ever made. We’ll start with just these 50 and build on that. And that’s where I’ll need your help. Head over there and drop links to videos in the comments.

Just do it (wocka, wocka, wocka).

Check the full, original Top 50 after the jump.

[Written on April 4, 2007]

This needs to be prefaced by saying these are only the best that can be found on YouTube. Meaning…No Grandmama, no Nique Pump ads, no Bird/Magic Converse, no “Grant Hill Drinks Sprite,” no Moses Malone rebounding, and, believe it or not, no Derrick Coleman British Knights spots.

Even so, I’m sure there are some glaring omissions. Let me know what I missed.

Now excuse me while I finish my Gatorade, put on my Nikes, and log-on to ESPN on my T-Mobile phone while I head to McDonald’s.

(If you have any audio trouble, try toggling the volume icon on the lower right corner of each entry. If that doesn’t work, just re-load the whole page and you should be good.)

50. Play it Again, Grant

This is only here because of how amazing it is to remember that these guys were both once about as good as it got in their respective positions. Unfortunately, Grant’s ankles fell apart and Dan Patrick turned into a giant douchebag.

49. Kobe’s 81

Looks like he had a pretty good night.

48. AI’s Slow Spin

This loses points for helping popularize the once-underground and cool, and now everywhere and obnoxious And 1 dribbling phenomenon.

47. Dancing Gheorghe

This is just a teaser for the Gheorghe to come later.

46. Timmy’s Delight

[2010 UPDATE: This was a cartoon spot with Timmy and Rapper's Delight playing, but can't find it in English. Here's this some-other-language-version though to give you the gist. And here's the JWill one from the same series. There was a KG one, too, I think.]

Duncan shows more emotion in this 30-second cartoon than he has in his entire NBA career.

45. 100-Foot Rim

Probably not that great all things considered, but I’m giving out bonus points for it being a dope shoe and the early-90s CGI.

44. Big Slam

[2010 UPDATE: Not even sure what I was talking about ... this is a Pepsi Big Slam Shaq one though, even if it's not great.]

The Big Cameo.

43. Spike and Timmy

“Look at the Ugly Knuckleball Action.”

42. TMac’s Tall Tale

Could have been better, but a good effort.

41. Kobe’s Matrix Dunks

It’s almost hard to believe this is even the same guy that wears #24.

40. Jugador Mas Valioso

I was trying to stay away from ads for the actual NBA sponsored by the NBA itself, NBC, ABC or TNT because there are just too many of them and most of them are boring, but when you put a guy who can barely speak English into a spot where the whole premise is him speaking Spanish, you’re making the list.

39. Slam

This is here only because of the little kid and the dunk over Zo.

38. The Greatest

I could have made this with Powerpoint and Cassio’s “My First Keyboard.” Goes to show how easy your job was when MJ was hawking your product. This probably won’t be the last you see of him.

37. Tastefully Done

Not sure why, but watching this one is when I feel the oldest.

36. Don’t Walk

Could of been done a lot better, but making fun of Patrick Ewing earns you points.

35. Magic’s 7-UP Tricks

Think he slept with her?

34. Check

I don’t care if you have a whole army of businessmen, girls in bikinis, fat construction workers and Mexican migrant workers….You’re not stopping The Kid.

33. Yo, Yao

Mocking foreigners is always a good time.

32. Really Wasn’t About the Hat

[2010 UPDATE: Can't find the hat one anymore ... Here's some outtakes though]

Chuckster at his best.

“Is this your dad?”

31. King Kong McGrady

King Kong meets Gulliver’s Travels.

30. Godzilla vs. Barkley

Good luck with that, Big Zill.

29. Can I Kick It?

This is the poor man’s version of that Tiger Woods golf ball juggle commercial. Pretty impressive for a Canuck point guard, though.

28. Dwyane vs. Flash

Do whatcha do.

27. Daruis & Q

Great song + head pounds = #27.

26. Agent Zero

There was 0 percent chance that this wasn’t making the list.

25. Frozen Moment

This one was better at the time than it is now. However……

The Lil Penny remix still holds up just fine. (Don’t worry, more LP to come.)

24. Swingers Dirk

[2010 UPDATE: The Vlade one is still on YouTube ... and probably better anyway]

All these Trophy Love spots were pretty good. This was my favorite. Here’s the ones with JKidd, Nash, Vlade, and Manu & Tony.

23. Umi Says

Mos Def, extended edition (the Jeter appearance cost this one some points).

22. The Glory of The Mustache Days

Click here for more info on the history of the NBA moustache.

21. AI and Jada

Jada kills this Trackmasters sneaker squeak beat.

The A6 Remix, this time with an verse from AI

20. One on One

If Kobe would just embrace the dark side, everyone would respect him a lot more.

19. Not a Role Model

He always was shy.

18. Gheorghe Muresan Cologne

Screw Scorsece, I still can’t believe the Academy overlooked an Oscar for My Giant.

17. That’s a 90-footer

CGI at its best.

16. The Shirt

Exactly what we were all thinking.

15. Zeke the Thief

Speechless.

14. Coulda Dunked … Shoulda Dunked

Three more MJ appearances for the price of one.

13. Nationwide Basketball Society

Easily Diesel’s best performance since Curb Your Enthusiasm. But most of these Ali G/TNT spots were pretty great. Here are most of the rest.

12. The Second Coming

You know it’s good when it convinces you to enjoy a Dip Set track.

The “Kobe Being Kobe” version is 10x better though.

11. Fun Police

[2010 UPDATE: After finding the Cherokee Parks one, this definitely should have 7th. Sincere apologies.]

Unfortunately, these are probably the worst two in the Fun Police series. If I had the better ones in front of me this is probably in the Top 5. Step your game up, YouTube.

UPDATE: Thanks to Sam for hooking us up with a link to the better Fun Police spots. “Your facial expressions when you dunk are VERY limited.”

10. Nasty Dunk

An ad with the Four Best Centers Ever and one of the most hilarious catch phrases of all time gets you an automatic bid to the Top 10.

9. Freestyle

Extended edition. Great stuff.

8. Mars

Money … it’s gotta be the shoes.

This, you cannot do.

What’s the over/under on Spike, 4?10??

7. The LeBrons

“Dunk Contests are Bourgeois”

“You Think Michael Trained in the Pool?”

The First Season

6. Like Mike

If this song isn’t in your head for the rest of the day, please burn your Social Security card and leave my country immediately. You’re not wanted here.

5. Lil Penny

The “Super Bowl Party” is basically the “We Are The World” of sports commercials.

Double Action.

Lil Penny Classic.

The Secret Service couldn’t guard me.

4. Johnny Kilroy

This version (and the video quality) is pretty horrible. Go here for the proper edition with Steve Martin and “The Popcorn Tape.”

3. Roswell Rayguns

I’m just gonna lump these together so they don’t monopolize the Top 10.

Snoop and George Clinton’s Funk Ship.

Dr. Funk.

2. The Showdown

With MJ’s sweater and Bird’s backhair, it’s really hard to leave this out the #1 slot.

1. XXI

On the other hand…’Nuff said.

Plan your listening accordingly. Then check out some of his work over at SLAM Online and Hawks.com and be sure to tune into NBA TV every Tuesday night at 6:00 pm to see Lang on the network’s new show The Beat.

Additionally, drop me an email or leave a note in the comments of any other teams or subjects you would like to hear more about. I have some guests and topics in mind for the next month or so, but will try to accommodate any requests as much as possible. We talk about practice for the people, after all.

And as always, be sure to subscribe to Talking About Practice on iTunes, where ratings and reviews are encouraged.

Kevin just saw his Clippers get smacked around by the Rockets on Wednesday night, so we start with Houston and that inevitably leads into some talk about efficiency and advanced stats. But we get back to talking about more general Western Conference stuff before long, focusing on the Lakers, Nuggets, Mavs and, of course, the Clippers. The stylistic reconstruction that has revived Al Thornton’s career is discussed and we analyze this as something that may fit into the ad-hoc termed “Josh Smith Corollary” that centers around a player forgoing the things on the court that he doesn’t do well and, instead, increasing his utility and efficiency to the team by concentrating on the things he does do well. Josh Smith has famously sworn off of three-point shots this season, and Kevin has seen a similar change in Thornton. We speculate as to whether other guys like Carlos Boozer are or can benefit from such self-realization.

We also chat about ESPN’s TrueHoop Network. Given my involvement in that whole thing via Eight Points, Nine Seconds, I’m admittedly not the best person to be asking Kevin about this stuff. But it is a big topic and an intriguing development in not just NBA circles but in the evolution of the sports blogosphere at large, as anyone who attended either of the Blogs With Balls sports blogging conferences this year can attest to.

And for all you 80s sitcom fans, we also talk for a solid 10 minutes about Benson. Not sure how that happened, but we were able to come to at least one thrilling revelation. I’m not going to spoil the amazing payoff that will surely be sweeping the collective mind of America come this afternoon, but let’s just say that one of the world’s great mysteries has been solved.

I would also be remiss if I failed to give a shout out to our boy AI. (That’s what it’s called in “radio,” right? A “shout out”?) There would be no Talking About Practice without you, Mr. Answer, and, frankly, I wasn’t ready for an NBA without you either.

Welcome back.

And as always, you can subscribe to Talking About Practice on iTunes, where rankings and reviews are appreciated.

MEMPHIS, TN—Though Allen Iverson has taken an indefinite leave of absence and even threatened to retire because of his current bench role, the Grizzlies organization maintained its stance Wednesday that the 1-7 team has five better players than the four-time NBA scoring champion and 2001 league MVP. “We’re really confident about the decision to put Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, and Marc Gasol on floor instead of Iverson,” general manager Chris Wallace said of his starters, who combined have appeared in 10 fewer NBA All-Star games than the former No. 1 draft pick.

Nice work, fake news.

(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

]]> http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/2009/11/03/all-the-news-fit-to-six-november-3-2009/feed/ 2 http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/2009/11/02/take-a-tour-of-eddy-currys-body/ http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/2009/11/02/take-a-tour-of-eddy-currys-body/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:35:42 +0000 Jared Wade http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/?p=5730 I know Halloween is over, and the title of this post conjures a brand of horrifying terror that not even Michael Myers can match, but, fortunately, the below video is only about his tattoos. (Although if you do really want a good Eddy Curry body-related scare in your life, just click right here and look at this photo.)

In this soliloquy he did for Mouth Piece Sports, Curry says that he got his first tattoo when he was 16 around the time when a lot of people were getting inked up because they wanted to be like Allen Iverson. Eddy was 16 in 1998 (which, by my math, means good news, Knicks fans: he should be entering his prime any day now), which was indeed the height of the era when AI was scaring white people by bringing the hood to the game where they love him for the braids and tats.

But Big Ed reveals his inattention to detail and fundamental logic when he tries to articulate the fact that, sure, he was inspired by AI, but, unlike other people, he didn’t want to emulate The Answer. Says Curry: “A lot of people were copying his tattoos and a lot of my friends were copying his tattoos. I’m glad I didn’t do that.”

Apparently, Curry either (a) is not actually familiar with the tattoos Allen that has, or (b) does not recall getting a Chinese character put on his neck and has not looked in a mirror since that happened. Because Allen has Chinese characters on his neck and so does Eddy.

I’m not an anatomy professor, but that seems somewhat similar.

It’s not the best job, but I make it much better. I steal. A lot. I’d say that out of any given ten letters I pick up, I thieve seven or eight. And ya know who writes a ton of letters? NBA players. I was shocked too. But I’m talking, like, a ton. In fact, the only thing they mail more than letters are postcards. Yup. Postcards. They send em to everyone. They send them to each other. They send them to their coaches. People send postcards to them. And sometimes they even send postcards to themselves.

These are the ones I stole last week.

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Indiana Pacers

Milwaukee Bucks

]]> http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/2009/10/27/nba-postcard-preview-09-the-central/feed/ 2 http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/2009/10/12/manny-ramirez-is-talking-about-practice/ http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/2009/10/12/manny-ramirez-is-talking-about-practice/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:40:58 +0000 Jared Wade http://www.bothteamsplayedhard.net/?p=5482 Manny Ramirez is by far my favorite hitter of all time and it’s not close. And if not for Pedro Martinez, he would be my favorite baseball player period. So it comes as no surprise that the below video where he channels The Answer gave me mucho laughter.  ¡LlóLl!

Go Dodgers. (via TrueHoop)

Shepard categorizes his inspiration to create these as such:

Everything about Michael Jordan is iconic, from his slam dunks to his signature shoes to his tongue wagging to his number, so he makes a great subject for portraiture because everything about him is laced with cultural significance. You can tell from the look in his eyes, even back when he was at the University of North Carolina, that he was obsessed with greatness, but he also managed to do everything with a sense of flair. I think it’s that combination of intensity and style, and of course his singular talent, that make him the embodiment of a legend.

Since I’m rich, I’ll probably buy all three of the MJ/Fairey-signed, 26” x 36” master prints later today. Fortunately, all your poor people can get in on the fun, too, and purchase individual 18″ x 24″ prints signed by just Fairey for only $79.99. Then you can, I guess, tack it up in your boxcar or whatever.

Man, your life sucks.

Before I do that search, let me tell you one thing — I feel that Allen Iverson’s 2001 trip to the NBA Finals is forever tainted because of the logo the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers had at that time. It was, if I remember, the big, swooshy-ball, overly-drawn thing that was all part of that trend — the one where the Pistons had an angry, teal horsey on their jerseys.

I like to lift weights.

Here’s the thing — the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers had one of the classically simple looks back in Dr. J’s early-80s days. It said, in that basic “sports-stitching font,” these exact and undeniable words:

“Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers”

Then on the back, it would have the player’s full name and their phone number in case they wanted to get some girlfriends to have fun with at dancing parties.

Anyway, time to hit Google for my hard work. brb.

Yeah, I have no idea — the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers website says they’re using some amalgamated version of the graphical thing, but they have their old-school retro logo on the page header of their basketball team website. [Ed note: They are indeed using the old one again now.]

What do you think about the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers logo on a scale of one to ten, with 10 being, “it’s okay,” 1 being, “I like it,” and 5 being, “it’s great.”

Also, when was the last time you were on an airplane ride and why.

Brian Spaeth is the former writer of YAYsports! NBA, and the star and writer of Who Shot Mamba?, a broadband motion picture debuting October 13 on Koldcast.tv. He is also the author of two novels, including the epic Prelude to a Super Airplane. He no longer uses question marks.

The Hawks could learn a lot about admitting a collossal mistake and embracing retro from the Sixers.

Much like my opinion on this video right here — not to mention B.o.B.’s parody and the Slap Chop Remix — it’s nice to see that the rap debacle of 2008 hasn’t gone to complete waste. (from KSK via Ball Don’t Lie)

People in Boston enjoy spending all their disposable income on sports and sports-related paraphenalia so KG ranked first last season, but he has since dropped to #4. Here’s the full top five.

#1 – Kobe
#2 – LeBron
#3 – CP3
#4 – KG
#5 – AI

Yes, that Allen Iverson. In other news:

The Lakers topped the list of most popular team merchandise for the sixth time in seven years. The Celtics, who bumped them out last season, dropped to No. 2, followed by New York, Cleveland and Chicago.

Exciting news day around here, I know.

"Hey Mr. Buss, did we retire #4 yet?"

I both praised one of the best hoops websites on this here planet while making the announcement that Joey of the website Straight Bangin’ is now writing regularly for FreeDarko. And he done tored it up with his first post the other day, which talks about the duality of this year’s Playoffs being both great because we get to watch the Leaders of the New School (Bron, CP3, Flash, Dwight, Deron, Rose, etc.) but also downtrodden because we have to endure the demise of the hallmarks of the post-MJ era (Deeeee-Trooooiiit BAS-KET-BALL, the Spurs, KG, The Answer, Shaq missing on a milk carton and even Timmy to some degree).

Here’s an excerpt:

For as much good as we’ve seen, there’s been an equal amount of bad. At least, for me, there has been. It’s an odd duality well captured by the Celtics, in fact. As sad as it is to watch Kevin Garnett reduced to the world’s most profane, best-dressed cheerleader, Rajon Rondo’s playoff performance has been a sensational counter, offering the sort of boundary-challenging performance we like to celebrate and mythologize. Of course, it likely comes from necessity precisely because Kevin is hurt. I don’t think one necessarily trumps the other, but this year, the bad seems to be a consequence of the good in a way that’s more pronounced than usual.

Kid has game. (Hip hop heads should stay up on Straight Bangin’, too, where he’s been dropping gems like this post about Raekwon for years.)

Furthermore, you should be checking out FreeDarko every day during the Playoffs. They’re cool dudes and they’re staying active.

That’s just cruel. (Screen cap from FanHouse via Ball Don’t Lie)

Among the pre-Shaq implementers were me (@BothTeamsPlayed) and Zach Harper (@talkhoops) of the highly entertaining and thorough site Talk Hoops. After months of exchanging 140-character arguments about Durant vs. Oden (me vs. him, repectively) and discussions about Blue Chips, we figured it was time to completely reverse the trend of shorter, less-thoughtful NBA discussion going on over at Twitter and instead start our own trend of longer, less-thoughtful NBA discussion through e-mail.

Thus, we spent the last 36 hours or so exchanging some e-mails on the current state of the NBA, Tom Cruise’s acting career, the merit of NBA awards, the Stucci Brothers, those black-and-white “where will amazing happen next?” commercials, the greatness of the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento public transportation,  the Celtics’ decision to pick up Mikki Moore and, of course, Stephon Marbury’s head tattoo.

Here what transpired.

Wade,

Yesterday, I tweeted that I was now on the Dwyane Wade for Defensive Player of the Year bandwagon. I stated that I was completely gullible enough to be swayed by his two crucial blocked shots at the end of the Heat’s win over the Pistons.

Now, this could have just been a good sequence against a struggling Detroit franchise that seems to be more apt to shoot themselves in the foot than Billy Hoyle with the pressure of the Stucci brothers breathing down his neck. Or this could be a legitimate claim to something that should be his award with the type of season that he’s had with steals and blocks.

Should a 6’4″ shooting guard who is 13th in the league in total blocks and third in the NBA in total steals be getting more consideration? Should Dwight Howard who only has 101 more blocks than him be a virtual lock for this award? Should LeBron James who tracks guys down on the fastbreak and swarms the passing lanes be a front-runner even though he seems to be unable to get guys like Antawn Jamison to score under 30 points? Who deserves this thing?

Dazed and Confused,
Zach

——————————————————————————————————————————-

Zacharia,

I sort of think the entire whole award discussion thing is dumb, frankly. But I’ll play your little game, Harper.

It’s not so much that I don’t care about trying to determine which players are playing the best defense or which rookies are having the most affect on their teams’ successes, it’s just that I thought the whole point of having 1,500 websites discussing the NBA everyday was to add nuance and unique insight to the world of NBA analysis and fandom instead of having everyone try to arbitrarily and unsuccessfully quantify the same five or six players who we all know are bona fide Hall of Famers and among the Top 100 to ever lace em up. For me, trying to determine who’s playing better right now between Wade vs. LeBron comes down to the same exact thing that that Larry vs. Magic always does: Which one did I see most recently? Possibly not so coincidentally, my Top Gun vs. Days of Thunder and Rakim vs. Jay-Z rankings work on the same principle. (This whole analogy is sort of a lie cause I definitely think Bird is better, however, I reckon you get my point.)

But I digress.

I have a feeling Flash is going to come in second in both MVP and DPOY voting. Wade’s gaudy defensive stats aside, it’s tough for a guard to win the award. How many have ever done it? MJ and GP are the only two I’m positive about and it took each of them half a dozen years or so of perennial All-Defense First-Team status to even really enter the convo. Currently, Flash only has one 2nd-Team All-Defense on his resume. Plus, I’ve watched a lot of Heat games this year and while DWade is certainly one of the best defensive guards in the League when he saddles up and buckles down, his exhaustion from carrying 14 other guys on his back offensively all game does lead to him taking plays off and watching his man hit an easy shot after he failed to fight through a screen.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure Dwight takes a play off here and there too. But when you’re 6’11″, have a 96″ vertical and are the most ridiculous athlete in the history of the human civilization, you’re still playing pretty good D even if you’re just standing in the middle of the paint with your eyes closed. Didn’t David Robinson, the guy I’ve been most closely comparing Dwight to physically for years, win a DPOY award under pretty much that same theory?

In more important, yet-still-relevant-to-your-email news, check the second comment from Deadspin’s piece on the ARod photo-shoot in Details.

Let the great experiment begin,
Jared Wade

Days of Thunder and Top Gun: One has cars, one has planes.

Mr. Carry On My Wade-ward Son,

Now hold on just a minute. If arbitrary arguments that attempt to quantify things that probably have no business being decided didn’t exist then you probably would be having this email discussion by yourself instead of with yours truly. With that said, I think having a season-long stream of consciousness about who’s playing well, who’s playing poorly, and who’s playing exceptionally does have some merit. Players “stealing” or being given awards for a good stretch of basketball in March and April really takes away value to that award.

Maybe that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things but if we’re going to laud Michael Jordan for back-to-back MVPs and Larry Bird for winning three straight then shouldn’t that have more meaning? To me, when history is brought into the conversation of why someone should win an award, the award immediately becomes a popularity contest rather than its original purpose of determining who’s the best in THAT year in that specific category. Now, I know that all of this makes me sound more like a hopeless romantic than Mikey in Swingers, but I think that it does matter in the grand scheme of basketball history.

I don’t want Dirk Nowitzki to be a one-time MVP because the media didn’t want Steve Nash in that rarified air of three straight MVPs. I don’t want the Mark Eatons of the world to have more Defensive Player of the Year awards than the Michael Coopers. I want players to earn the award by actual play on the court instead of numbers in one category.

Dwyane Wade for the most part is a lockdown defender, especially against the top talent in the NBA. Even though one singular play doesn’t win a basketball game, he’s twice won games this past month by making incredible defensive plays in crunch time. When LeBron isn’t playing the passing lanes or stalking a fast break lay-up like women in the greater L.A. area stock Luke Walton, LBJ seems to play defense like he’s Sidney Deane throwing a basketball game to hustle Billy Hoyle. To me that matters (by the way, Doyle McPoyle is probably my favorite, most consistent Deadspin commenter of the current A.J. Daulerio-led era).

Now onto the real topic of discussion that intrigues me from your email. I honestly don’t see how you can put Top Gun and Days of Thunder into the same category. I mean, I know that they’re both Tom Cruise movies from the Golden Age of the DramAction genre. But Top Gun has to be Far and Away (see what I did there with the Tom Cruise movie double entendre?) the better movie. There are lines like one of the ultimate things that every guy wants to say in passing to a girl, “If you don’t mind, I’ll just take a quick shower while you’re finishing up here.” It has the phenomenal singing in the bar scene as Kelly McGillis whilst sitting on a barstool is equally as tall as the Muggsy Bogues-sized Tom Cruise. It has the Anthony Edwards mustache. It has Tom Skerritt! And I’m sure I don’t have to talk about the homoerotic volleyball scene that has been beaten to death time and again. I just don’t see how Days of Thunder can really compete with this.

Sincerely,
Goose
——————————————————————————————————————————-

Misguided film viewer,

Rubbing Is Racing + Robert Duvall + hooker cop.

Mostly, I agree with your award meritocracy talk. I’m just bored of it. And rather than hear more about Dwyane/Dwight/LeBron, I’d rather read stuff about Roger Mason, Jr. or Thaddeus Young that I can’t get on future Peabody-winning shows like Cold Pizza or Around the Horn. But in sum, I just think Dwight is a more important defender than Flash. Dwyane’s prowess disrupts one offensive guy and leads to a few turnovers/easy buckets a game. Supes’ mere presence in the paint disrupts the entire offense. Big guys and shot blockers/adjusters are just always going to be more important due to the nature of the sport.

Moving on…Last time we corresponded you were about to board your dog cause you were leaving town. What’s up with that? Who boards dogs? Don’t you have any friends? Was it at least Badd Newz Kennelz? Too bad Ron Artest doesn’t still reside in Sacto. I’m sure he would have been more than happy to feed and water your dog, who I’m going to assume you named “Spike Bibby.”

There’s also a rumor that you went to Boston. Did you see a Celtics game? I saw the Cs/Sixers around Thanksgiving in the Garden Redux (you know, newer, bigger and much worse) and me and my dad sat next to a group of Martha’s Vineyard firefighters who were celebrating someone in the group’s 30th birthday. Aside from the fact that the concept of a firefighter from Martha’s Vineyard is pretty comical in and of itself, one of these cats was hammered and managed to build quite the friendship with my pops in the seven minutes that I spent buying beer and/or pissing during half-time. He was taking photos of himself with my dad as I got back to our row and, soon after, he was slurringly asking me stuff like “You know you’re dad is a great guy?” and “When are you going to give him some grandkids?” Then with about four minutes left in the 4th quarter, this firefighter sprung up from his seat and ran off to the bathroom where, we were later informed, he threw up in a urinal. Bravest indeed.

Now, I know this just sounds like a mildly interesting anecdote about a drunken Masshole, but astute readers will realize that the subtext of a story about puking in a urinal contains an apt metaphor for Boston’s Starbury acquisition.

This, then, leads me to my actual question. When you look at the optical illusion in the tattoo on the side of Steph’s dome (for reference, it’s the same image as the logo on the upper left of Starbury.com), what do you see first: The star or the number three? I have not yet tested my theory, but I’m guessing there is psychological correlation between a person’s answer to this question and his or her answer to whether he or she first sees the gypsy lady or the beautiful senorita in that similar optical-illusion picture. I think Freud could have become an even householdier name had he taken up this research. One thing’s for sure: someone needs to take up this cause.

Yours truly,
The Guy Still Tryna Convince Dwyane He’s My Cousin

What do you see first: The number three or a star?

Mr. King of Queens,

You can’t just throw the hooker cop out there without considering that Val Kilmer in Top Gun would have done ANYTHING to be Top Gun in his class. He would have done unspeakable acts in film that now get you Academy Award nominations just to win that commendation. Some call that a friend with benefits, some call that a take-no-prisoners sort of go-getter, but I call that prostitution. So I’ll see your hooker cop and raise you the only moment in movie history where Meg Ryan seemed worth a damn.

Maybe boarding dogs is a West Coast thing that you easterners just don’t seem to do. Perhaps, it’s the reverse of liking Bruce Springsteen or giving a damn about hockey. It’s just something we do. I have plenty of friends that I could probably coerce into watching my dog at my house or at their respective house. But much like a child, it doesn’t mean that I trust the dog will come out of this unscathed. As I build this budding internet super-stardom, I can’t risk any unfavorable incidents/headlines like “owner of mediocre basketball website allows friends to watch his dog: death toll rising.”

If Ron Artest was still in town, I definitely would have left the dog with him. He still is attached to this city because he still calls into a local nighttime radio show about once every two weeks. I’m almost positive that he would have made his 10-year-old son, who’s well known for throwing elbows and playing with that inherent Artest Family Crazy Look in His Eye at a fourth grade level, learn some responsibility by ignoring my dog for a week. I would have gladly allowed my dog to come out of the Artest ranch, looking like an emaciated version of a 14-year-old Darius Miles. Sadly, my dog’s name is Brown Bear and not Spike Bibby. I would have named him after Mike Bibby but my dog can actually stop a mildly dangerous crossover and I don’t think he deserves to be beaten on a daily basis.

And you’re right; the rumors are true. I DID go to Boston a couple of weeks ago. It was my second time in the Northeast area of this country after visiting New York last summer. I was able to watch the Celtics (sans Rondo, Scal, Tony Allen, and KG) go up against the Orlando Magic on a Sunday afternoon. I’ve been procrastinating on a piece about my experience at a Celtics game with their fans and environment for quite some time and now it appears to be gaining as much questioning about its existence (on a relative scale) as Bill Simmons’ rumored NBA book has garnered. And I got to see the Stephon Marbury starting debut in person and even caught a glimpse of that vaunted tattoo.

Personally, I never even noticed the fact that it also looked like a “3″ until roughly a month ago. So I’ll definitely fall into the logo category of whatever psychological breakdown that brings about. And I think we should figure out this breakdown right here instead of waiting for smarter and more qualified people to tackle this issue. I would assume that people who see the logo are the same people who see the gypsy. Gypsies try to trick common folk into giving too much for an item and/or service. They’re great at sales and preying on the gullible. I’ve also heard that their tears can cure things. So it’s safe to say that they’re just like logos and brand name companies that try to get people to accept their items by paying more for them than what they cost to make. So maybe that means people like me are more gullible than the people who see the 3/senorita. Now, I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the other side of this correlation.

But I will throw in this twist: I was on the train a couple of days ago, heading home from work. This woman who I later overheard was from Reno (about three hours and another state away) had made her way down to Sacramento. She didn’t look like she was homeless but she didn’t look far from it, especially with her tendencies towards someone who loves her some crystal meth. She sat down next to this woman in front of me who was an Asian woman that could have been anywhere from 25- to 35-years-old. I was listening to podcasts much better than mine at the time so I didn’t pay much attention to it until I figured out that this potentially homeless woman was crying to this Asian woman and giving the sob story of her life.

The Asian lady had a very creepy smile that could have just looked that way because she was trying to fake interest in the crazy stylistic musings of the crying woman. As the story continued from the transplanted resident of Reno, it eventually led to the younger woman shedding her creepy smile in favor of hugging a complete and dirty stranger that she flat-out didn’t know and wouldn’t know after she got off at her train stop.

I was completely horrified by this on many levels. One, I’m anti-social and hate small talk with people that I will never see again (i.e., in elevators, public transportation, etc.). And two, I have a certain level of cleanliness that I require from someone I don’t know before I’ll even think about touching them. But the third level is something that I’ll pose to you in a similarly related way to the Marbury question you posed to me. Why are “normal” people unlike myself willing and able to completely accept people that they don’t know into their lives if even for a brief moment despite the considerable evidence against them?

Why would a Boston fan base welcome with open arms and defend the validity of a Mikki Moore signing when he’s clearly shown that unless Jason Kidd is playing alongside him that he’s not worthy of being in a regular NBA rotation, let alone for a team that is contending for their second title in as many years? Why would any fan base welcome/hug this seemingly and deservedly homeless NBA player without questioning it?

All the best,
The King of Buying Ladies a Zircon

(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Jeopardy Security Guard,

I’m not saying Days of Thunder is better, just that they’re both fantastic. Same movie; different vehicles.

I know nothing about dogs, so I can’t help ya out there. It was mainly just a means to the end of talking about Ron Artest and Spike Bibby. It’s very unfortunate, however, that you missed Scalabrine. The sheen of the jumbotron lights off his soft, pasty arms illuminates the building in a way that could never translate to HD. I have no further insight on the Starbury logo/sultry senorita debate other than mentioning the fact that it must be very humbling for Coney Island’s Finest to wake up every morning and stare at the number three inked into his skull only to go to work and put on jersey with the number eight on it. Do you think he asked Ainge whether or not the franchise would make an exception and allow him to wear the late, great Dennis Johnson’s #3? I like to think Steph asked Danny in a text that said: “think i ca n rock that nmbr 3!?!?? ”

RE: Mikki Moore, I suppose you can lump me in with those that thought it was a good move. Then again, I’m one of those people who always respond to statements about how good Kevin Martin is with a “Look, man, you don’t hafta tell me” even though I never watch the Kings play. So I can’t say I really know much about Mikki’s abilities post-2006. He seems like a poor man’s Leon Powe in many ways, although I guess he is bigger. I dunno. Still seems like it was a good pickup even if it wasn’t a coup d’etat or anything. Since Christmas, I’ve thought the main reason the Cs can’t beat LeBron is because they literally didn’t have a single backup center or backup point guard on the bench. By picking up Mikki and Steph, you’re certainly not matching the absurd depth of the Lakers or Utah, but you at least addressed your key needs – even if it’s like tryna fix the hole in the Titanic with spackle.

Speaking of Utah and LA, the Western Conference is pretty awesome. Throw in SA, Houston (now first in the Southwest) and Denver, and that’s five fairly legit teams plus the flawed promise of NO, POR, Dallas and PHX. I’m excited about the fight for right to lose to LA in the First Round. Seems like a game of musical chairs that’s going to leave some unfortunate folks on the sidelines on the last day of the season.

But I guess what it really comes down to is: Can anyone beat LA?

With Manu hobbled again this year and Utah only now getting all its players on the same floor at the same time, I say no.

Farewell,
Wade

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J-Wade,

I don’t know about you, and maybe I’m just a stickler for the little things like this, but does the grammatical abortion that is today’s texting and tweeting style make you want to grab a small child and punch them in the throat? I would bet just about anything that if Steph actually sent a text to Danny Ainge about wearing #3 for the green then he definitely sent the exact text that you just typed, “think i ca n rock that nmbr 3!?!?? ”  I’m not expecting a dissertation or someone’s thesis whenever I get a text message or throw on the ol’ Tweet Deck but the least they could do is use the proper form of their, there, they’re or your and you’re. Am I perfect with the grammar? Not at all. But a missed comma here or there is nothing like what is slung up on the internet at a rapid rate.

As for the Celtics and their moves, I disagree with them. I understand the reason for them and you’re right that they had to add something to their void at backup center and point guard. But I feel like they panicked with the Mikki Moore signing and it screwed them out of a chance at Joe Smith. The Marbury one I understand a little bit more. Personally, I say develop Gabe Pruitt over the last season and a half and you don’t have that problem. And unless they could convince Jannero Pargo to come back to the States to play ball, Marbury was the only chance. It just felt like they made a move because they felt they had to and not because it was the right move to make. Last year, P.J. and Cassell were the correct moves to make. Marbury may have been the only choice at point but Mikki was the worst choice for a big man. Joe Smith or Drew Gooden seem to make much more sense.

Now, let me attempt to answer your question, “can anyone beat LA?”

In short, the answer is yes. In the long version, the answer is a little more complicated than that. I believe that a healthy Utah Jazz team with a full head of steam could be just as dangerous in the playoffs as the Lakers. The Jazz were in the Western Conference Finals just a couple of seasons ago and they actually have a better and deeper team now than they did. The problem with them is that they’re as reliable to be healthy as Bill Walton was (or so I’m told). And we don’t know that they will be on a roll when they make the playoffs. So they’re a maybe.

I don’t take the Rockets seriously because they’re the Rockets. A team featuring Ron Artest with Von Wafer in the rotation is not legit to me. I love the addition of Kyle Lowry because the internets tell me he’s a really good, young point guard. And of course, I love Shane Battier and Luis Scola as the role players on that team. But the Rockets have more holes than Carl Landry’s leg (too soon?) on offense and I just wonder who’s going to be their crunch-time scorer in the playoff games. Yao? He doesn’t really seem to be able to assert himself in the final minutes of a game. Ron Artest? He thinks he’s a better shooter than Larry Bird and actually said recently that he thought that the Kings were title-worthy when he played here in Sacramento. So Houston is definitely out.

Denver is coached by George Karl so I think that it’s safe to say they’re out of the Western Conference title chase. Even if Chris Anderson is fixing his hair after every blocked shot.

Portland’s too young. Phoenix is too skittish. Dallas isn’t a real basketball team. And New Orleans can’t give Chris Paul any help.

But that does leave San Antonio and they have a legit shot. They still execute better than just about any other team and when Manu Ginobili is the guy at the end of games, it’s hard to beat them in a seven-game series. They have enough depth to challenge the mighty depth of the Lakers and they have plenty of closers on that team to make big shots. They’re more than good enough defensively. And they have the experience to get past the Lakers. I think they can and I think they’re basically a coin flip at this point. But that has more to do with my assertion that the Lakers are mentally weak in pressure situations.

So clearly, you think the Lakers are hands down the likely winners of the West. What is keeping the rest of the West from challenging them and why are the Spurs not the team that can beat them?

Till later,
Mateen Cleaves’ Worst Nightmare

Roger Mason, Jr. explains green to kids who were born blind.

Talk Hooper,

Yes on the grammar issue. I edit people’s tweets before I re-tweet, have been known to drop semi-colons in text messages and can’t recall ever replacing a word with its numeric equivalent.

I agree on the Jazz. If Kobe and Co. are going to stumble, it’s most likely going to be in Salt Lake. The front-court depth is insane: Booz, Millsap, AK, Memo, CJ Miles and Matt Harpring. How does that even happen in the watered-down, thirty-team era? Even that pseudo-foreigner Kosta Koufos dude can play a little bit. I’ve been rather impressed with Ronnie Brewer all season too and I think he’s going to impress a lot of people in the Playoffs. Korver is cash and Deron is Deron. I mean, that’s a solid, solid team.

But have they played together enough? That’s my concern. Plus, as good and deep as that frontcourt is, who is stopping Pau? Aside from the undersized Millsap, none of those guys play any D to speak of. It’s just hard to see Boozer being ready to grind as hard in the paint as he’s going to need to do for Utah to really threaten LA after only playing like thirty regular season games.

I thought the Spurs had a shot as of a month ago. I was riding shotgun in the Roger Mason bandwagon before he was even hitting game winners every other day and I think Matt Bonner is legitimately legit.

But it all comes down to Manu’s ankle.

I really think he never recovered from the Olympics injury and now can’t get healthy enough to go 35 mpg for 20 games in the West Playoffs. Don’t get me wrong: Tony Parker has been truly transcendent this season and that is maybe the most underreported story of the year, but if Manu can’t take over consistently for long stretches, I just don’t see it.

As for other Western Conference “contenders,” I’m sure Denver has no legit shot but I really like watching them. A lot of it is how they play and the relative inconsistency of the team’s players each night. But more so, it’s just their personnel.

I wouldn’t say I actually like all the guys they have as actual human beings or anything, but everyone from Melo, Chauncey and JR Smith to Birdman, Nene and K-Mart has a career story arc that I find intriguing. They’re all sort of real-life underdogs — even Melo, who has somehow gone through an unparalleled, seven-year transition from phenom (‘Cuse) to overrated (first couple years) to underrated (DWade’s 2006 Playoffs obliterating all “Big 3 from 2003″ talk) to overrated (like three months later after strong Team USA showing) to underrated (now). Plus they have my boy Linus Kleiza, who I think has a Hedo Turkogluesque chance to blow up in like three years and make everyone say, “Is that the former 8th man from Denver?” Throw in Renaldo Balkman’s ability to generate Zeke nostalgia and it’s a jambalaya of enjoyment.

Speaking of Playoffs, how do you feel about the black-and-white commercials? I’m pretty into em. Manu’s bald spot is somehow even better sans Technicolor. Although I’m not sure how they picked a Kobe moment from that Suns series where he decided not to come out of the locker room for the second half of a Game 7 like four days later. The NBA ad wizards made up for that though by doing one with Joe Johnson though.

Until luego,
Jared
——————————————————————————————————————————-

Mr. Both Teamer,

With the commercials, I couldn’t be happier. They’re cheesy as hell, some of the footage seems dated (see Kobe wearing #8) and I’m pretty sure that by tweaking the old piano music from last year on Garageband that I could have come up with the new song, but other than that I’m completely on board with them.

Although here are a few moments for the players involved I think they should have chosen instead:

LeBron James: LBJ taking about 15 minutes to consider throwing the playoff games after being offered $50 million by a Vegas casino. I know the guy is “all about winning” but I think that when he says that, he thinks that the word winning actually means money.

Kobe Bryant: I’d like the over the shoulder view of him firing up his MacBook Pro, clicking on a link that has Shaq in the title, seeing that Shaq is curious how Kobe liked the taste of an orifice, and then chucking the laptop across the room. Then the final five seconds could be him wearing a Jordan jersey and staring at the mirror.

Chris Paul: Telling his teammates that they have no marbles like Tanaka in Major League II and then frustratingly walking away from the huddle before the TV timeout was over.

Kevin Garnett: I can’t get enough of him leveling Zaza Pachulia with that screen in last year’s playoffs. But I’d really like to see him barking at Jerryd Bayless or wagging his finger in Calderon’s face. That minus the Technicolor would be watched by me over 100 times per day.

Joe Johnson: I’d like to see him in black and white, trying to send messages back and forth between Mike Woodson and Josh Smith. With moments like Josh Smith saying, “Will you please tell a CERTAIN SOMEONE that his play calling isn’t featuring me enough?” Then we get a close-up on Joe Johnson rolling his eyes.

Paul Pierce: I’d like KG to be cooking everyone dinner at Paul’s house, then Ray Allen pulls out a knife to help make the salad and Paul Pierce goes running upstairs in sheer terror.

Dwyane Wade: I’d like him sitting in on a meeting with Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley as Riles introduces the new coach and gives a breakdown of the roster in a Power Point presentation. Then Dwyane Wade asking if Ashton Kutcher was there, waiting to punk him before he pushes the table over and storms out of the room. Last five seconds would be him wearing a Knicks jersey while staring in the mirror with a sheepish grin on his face.

As for the Nuggets, I can’t think of a more unlikely group of guys to hang out with. It seems like it would be like a season of The Real World that never stops. Carmelo would be the one with a checkered legal past. He can’t quite stop himself from looking for fights at the bar but keeps telling people that he’s a changed man from what he used to be. Chris Anderson is obviously the comedic value of the show and the former drug user who does things like eating a whole tub of licorice in a night to keep himself from using drugs again. Nene is the token foreigner who doesn’t quite fit in but always has a pretend smile on his face like he knows what’s going on. Kenyon Martin would be the person that ends up breaking his leg during some bar fight or tearing his knee on the group vacation halfway through the season. J.R. Smith would be the young person that nobody can stand but he does some pretty remarkable things at clubs so everyone keeps him around. And Sonny Weems is just fun because everyone loves saying his name.

I completely enjoy this Nuggets team and can’t stop myself from watching every game they play just for the Chris Anderson factor. How has nobody made a reality TV show about this guy’s daily events? I’d love to see confessional-type interviews where he talks about his blocked shots or why he doesn’t have a drinking problem. I’d love to see his familial interaction. I’d love to see if he has any brothers and if so, how he acts around them. And I think the reason that he works on this team and why everyone seems in place is because of the acquisition of Chauncey Billups. Nobody liked playing with Iverson. No one would ever say so because I assume A.I. is a guy that people are still kind of afraid of. Nobody quite knows who is involved with his inner circle and how big their probation reports are. So replacing him with someone like Billups who can be a coach on the court means that everyone is relaxed and they know that they don’t have to rely on George Karl to make crunch-time decisions.

Is he the biggest coaching mistake waiting to sink his playoff team? Are there other coaches that will screw their team more than him?

Signing off,
Zach Harper

Everyone loves Birdman -- even announcers afraid of tattoos.

Zach,

Most people seem to hate Karl. I don’t think he’s a particularly good coach, but I’m not sure he’s going to kill em all by himself. They have plenty of poor decision-makers, injury-prone frontcourt players, inconsistent role players and streaky jumpshooters that should be able to handle that all on their own.

As for Chris Anderson, his success this year really is a great story. It’s like a less hyped, less dramatic, less unbelievable version of the Josh Hamilton triumph last year. The only thing that’s really unfortunate is that Birdman didn’t get a re-do on the dunk contest this year. I think he could have attempted more dunks in the first round of the dunk contest than Josh Hamilton hit home runs in the first round of the derby. But despite that poor attempt at a joke, I’m serious about his comeback. It’s been great to watch this season.

One other thing about Chris Anderson happened last night during the Suns/Nuggs game (which was tremendous…I love me some Jared Dudley). The Suns announcers were flummoxed by the fact that Chris had so many tattoos, yet none on his legs. And after carrying on for a few minutes of tattoo conversation that was roughly as interesting as listening to a couple of gym teachers comparing/contrasting vinyl siding installation strategies, one of the guys said (paraphrasing) “But even though he has all those tattoos, everyone you talk to says he’s just the nicest guy.”

If that doesn’t sum up the generational disconnect between the old NBA guard and the young bucks currently playing, I don’t know what does. Essentially, the announcers trying to explain to me what’s going on in an NBA game are fearfully looking at guys with tattoos like they’re James Dean rocking a red leather jacket. And I’m not one to really go to the race well, but it sounds like there was a clear assumption that JR Smith and Kenyon Martin were not “the nicest guys.” Since K-Mart and JR are probably pretty big dunces of civilization, I guess it’s not the greatest example, but the whole episode pretty much made me want to mute the broadcast and put on some Bun B.

Or a Talk Hoops podcast.

I mean, that thing’s good. I just caught up on the last month or so last week and not only did I get to hear a great story about you seeing a vagrant jerk off on the Sacramento subway, but I also learned that Sacramento has a subway. That right there is what we in the Boogie Down Bronx call edutainment. Keep up the good work on that.

What I’m saying is: You can be my wingman any time.

Stay classy,
Wade

I predictably did these two. At some point, I’ll certainly bang out a few more and also clean these up.

The first is on how Allen Iverson is now the predictable scapegoat in Detroit’s struggles and how his perceived me-first/team-second play and Outbreak monkeyesque infectious personality is obviously being demonized in sharp contrast to Chauncey’s golden-boy/winner intangibles and leadership that have led reinvigorated the Nuggets franchise since the blockbuster trade. Essentially, it’s a great rebuttal to the over-simplicity of most NBA coverage that assumes, as he writes, “an All-Star is an All-Star and that A.I. should be performing better than this by now, no matter what” — and it does this without making excuses for Allen’s mediocrity so far in MoTown and the Pistons more inexcusable losses.

For all the flack Iverson has taken, and for all the struggles he’s had so far in Detroit, he’s hardly deserving of the firestorm of criticism blanketing the Internet, sports-talk radio, NBA broadcasts, etc. Spare me the kneejerk reactions to Allen Iverson and his sure-to-be short-lived tenure with the Detroit Pistons until next June when the 2008-09 season has come to a close. Then and only then will it be time to accurately assess A.I.’s stint in Motown.

Then today, ETB drops some wisdom on Both Teams Played Hard mancrush Chris Paul’s run at the consecutive kleptomania record, something we’ve known for a while was inevitable like a Neo/Agent Smith fight in the rain.

Most of us know what Paul does on the offensive end, no ink has been spared in singing his praises there. What we may not hear enough about are his exploits on the defensive end of the floor. We may be hearing more about it soon. He’s about to (knock on wood) set the NBA mark for consecutive games with a steal.

The current NBA record for consecutive contests with a theft is 105, set by former Spurs guard Alvin Robertson who had a steal in every game over 20 years ago from November 6, 1985 to Deccember 29, 1986. With two steals against the Charlotte Bobcats on December 10th Paul extended his personal streak of consecutive games with a steal to 102. If things go according to plan he’ll tie the mark on the upcoming Hornets road trip at Boston, Toronto and Memphis.

Most importantly, he refers to steals as pilfers at one point, which is commendable.

It rather humorous to realize that this level of tattoo coverage was scary to white people just ten years ago. JR Smith has forgotten about more ink than AI had back then.

Ryne Nelson at Slam, however, has infinitely more insight on the matter:

If you think hair is just hair, you’re dead wrong.

Prior to the 1976 season, Pete Maravich went away from the wispy mustache and flowing mop, trading it in for a clean-shaven, conservative look; he started throwing chest passes, making fundamental plays and was named First-Team All-NBA.

Larry Bird cut off his blonde road-kill mullet for the 1988 season. He responded with a 30-9-6 season and by far the greatest shooting campaign of any forward ever.

MJ went with the bald look in 1989, and put together his forgotten masterpiece–it was sandwiched between his first MVP and the subsequent Bulls dynasty–playing the point for Doug Collins, averaging darn near a triple-dip.

Steve Nash lost his locks for the 2006 season, and started barking at teammates, having guilt-free high shot-attempt games, and saw all of his talents concurrently peak.

Don’t say losing the hair means nothing.

There’s a good amount more about the symbolism that this represents for Melo and that he, on the eve of Obama, must also embrace change in his game to take his career to the next level. I suggest you read the rest.

In other cornrows news, Shoals similarly killed it yesterday with his Sporting News column. The main focus is that Iverson is as much a social emblem as he is a baller or, termed in the wonders of Jadakiss brevity, he “brought the hood to the game and they love him for the braids and tats.”

Allen Iverson’s never been just a basketball player. He’s a cultural icon, and has been for more than a decade. That’s a long time to remain relevant, which is why, at each phase in his career, Iverson’s image and the attitudes around him have shifted subtly — in no small part due to what city he’s playing in.

Shoals describes Allen’s polarizing persona in Philly, his amalgamation into the anonymity of Denver and the new opportunity for “reinterpretation” he will have in Detroit — a predominantly black city that will embrace his desire, grit and, hopefully, his unwavering commitment to being Allen Iverson.

Thus, his image comes full circle. A new career in a new town, but one where there’s no question he’s free to be himself — as opposed to Philly, where he was always dogged by the specter of racial strife, or Denver, where Melo made his persona redundant. This time, Iverson has the chance to once again prove he’s one of a kind, to distinguish himself from his imitators, and yet at the same time prove his appeal is more universal than ever. Not because the rest of the world has caught up with Allen Iverson, but because the world’s finally ready to let Iverson stay one step ahead of it.

Since I can’t possibly close this any better than that, here’s an editorial photo that essentially sums up AI’s two seasons in Denver better than any article I’ve read since the trade.

Secondtively, this faux-movie poster over at Cuzoogle is phenomenal. Go over there and read some good thoughts on the Raps/Pistons game last night, which unfortunately didn’t feature AI because Chauncey couldn’t be bothered to pass a physical and sign some papers yesterday.

But most importantly, LeBron has a costume. (via NESW Sports)

Now Carmelo has chopped his locks, leaving The Answer as virtually the only iconic player still committed to the braids. (Eddy Curry is more “prominent” than “iconic.” Udonis and Josh Boone are the only two others I can even come up with.)

UPDATE: Ben Wallace, Turiaf and Nene still rock em as well.

Since it was essentially Allen and Spree that started the cornrow pandemic back in the day, it seems fitting that he is its last notable proponent of a cultural style that once seemed near-ubiquitous in this League.

Brad Miller cries a single tear for the end of the cornrow era.

Yesterday, for example, Jets/KC was the only early game on and since I really didn’t feel like putting on pants and making the trek all the way to the bar that shows every game (literally two blocks away), I mopingly put the Jets game on. But it was just horrible. So I ended up flipping over to ESPN Classic and, lo and behold, there was an “NBA Scorers” marathon on, which was tremendous to watch because I really loathe preseason basketball. It was like an NBA opening day adrenaline shot in the arm.

A boring game with Iverson dropping 50-something against the Magic was first, but then came Bird’s amazing, career-high 60-point-game where he was just out-of-his-goddamn mind making every shot he took, including fadeaway continuation-after-the-foul threes while falling out of bounds that had the entire Hawks bench jumping out of their seats.

That’s one of my favorite games and it’s all the better considering the Celtics were fouling to stop the clock, up by like 15 mind you, just to get the ball back enough times for Bird to break the career Celtic high of (I think) 58 that McHale had literally set the previous week. At one point the announcer says (paraphrasing) “Isn’t it a coincidence that McHale just broke Bird’s old record last week and here Bird is tonight taking it back?”

No, sir wearing a comical sports coat, it was not a coincidence.

That’s just Larry Bird.

Anyway, the point here is that the NBA season starts tomorrow and that the Association is steaksauce.

And to commemorate the unadulterated brilliance that is the NBA, I remembered I had a list of the 52 Greatest Moments in NBA history on my computer that I wrote down a while back while watching the show of the same name that Spike TV did a bunch of years back (I presume to celebrate the League’s 52nd Anniversary).

Obviously, there have been a few moments since then that would be included (LeBron’s Game 5 most notably), but to get you excited for the upcoming year, here’s the full list:

#52 – Reggie’s push-off on Jordan to hit a three-point game winner in Game 5 of the ECF in 1998

#51 – Dikembe’s eight-seed Nuggs beat the Sonics

#50 – MJ’s shoulder shrug six-three-pointer first half against the Blazers

#49 – Iceman drops 63 (33 in a quarter) on the last day of the season to edge out David Thompson for the season scoring record

#48 – Larry Legend’s back-to-back game winners to give them home-court advantage in the last two games of the season

#47 – Vinnie Johnson Finals game winner over Portland

#46 – Big O wins a title with Milwaukee…Drops 30 in the final game

#45 – Memorial Day Miracle – Sean Elliot’s game winner in the WCF to beat Portland

#44 – Robert Horry beats Sacto

#43 – Larry Legend revives the Celtics

#42 – Sir Charles’ game winner to send Suns to Finals

#41 – Walton’s Blazers win the finals over Dr. J in his first season in the NBA

#40 – Game 6 1958 Finals: Bob Petit scores 19 of the last 21 and 50 total. “It was the greatest game of my life. It just happened to be in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.”

#39 – MJ drops the double-nickel in his return to MSG while rocking the 4-5 (5th game back after baseball).

#38 – Jerry West’s Game Winner in the NBA All Star game

#37 – Knicks comeback from down 18 with under 6 to go against the Big O/Kareem Bucks. They scored final 19 points of the game.

#36 – Lakers repeat after Riley’s guarantee that the would…beat hobbled Zeke, who was amazing while playing on a damn near broken ankle

#35 – Spud wins the 1986 Slam Dunk contest

#34 – Game 6 1993 NBA Finals: Bulls finish off Three Peat on Paxson’s jumper despite Barkley’s amazing game

#33 – Larry asks “who’s playing for 2nd” then wins three-point contest in his warm-up jacket with the walk-off #1 finger raised

#32 – George Mikan becomes a superstar, lead Minny Lakers to 5th title in 6 years

#31- Flu Game: MJ’s 38 with 103-degree temperature

#30 – Derek Fisher’s 4/10ths of a second WCF game-winner after Timmy’s had just drilled what he thought was a Spurs game-winner

#29 – Kareem’s skyhook in Game 6 of the 1974 finals

#28 – MJ’s 63 in the Boston Garden in his second career Playoff game

#27 – Larry Bird’s jersey retirement — Magic wears Boston t-shirt

#26 – Game 2, 1984 Finals: Gerald Henderson steals the ball

#25 – Bernard King vs. Zeke in Game 5 of the 1984 First Round Playoffs: Zeke gets crazy but Bernard averaged over 40 ppg for the series and dunks home a put back to seal the game

#24 – Elgin Baylor drops 61 points in Game 5 1962 NBA Finals (Cs win series)

#23 – Jordan beats Nique in 1985 Slam Dunk (free throw line in Chicago)

#22 – The Streak: Elgin retires on November 5, 1971…and then the Lakers win 33 straight.

#21 – Bird vs. Nique shootout in Game 7 of First Round: Larry scores 20 in the 4th, Nique drops 47 total

#20 – Reggie’s 8 points in 8.9 seconds in MSG

#19 – Bill Russell leads the Celtics to their first Championship in 1957 over the St. Louis Hawks by winning Game 7 in 2 OTs

#18 – Kareem hits a skyhook to score point number 31,420 on April 5, 1984, breaking Wilt’s career record

#17 – Ralph Sampson hits walk-off, turnaround, fadaway, alley-oop, 12-footer to take Houston to the NBA Finals and end the Lakers three-year run of winning the West

#16 – 1962 NBA Finals Game 7 — Celtics vs. Lakers: Cs win their 5th straight title as the Cooz dribbles out the final seconds

#15 – Jordan’s jumper/fist pump over Ehlo’s defense/fetal position curl up

#14 – Magic’s All Star Game return

#13 – Shaq/Kobe Lakers come back against Portland…Kobe lobs to Diesel for the flush and that tremendous Shaq reaction

#12 – NBA Finals Game 6, 1980: Magic plays center and drops 42 as the Lakers beat Philly

#11 – Dr. J’s still-unreal, behind-the-backboard, baseline up-and-under

#10 – Player/Coach Bill Russell wins his 11th ring in his final game over the the Wilt/West/Elgin Lakers in Game 7 in Los Angeles

#9 – MJ’s “Spec-tac-u-lar Move!” (1991 NBA Finals Game 2 in The Forum)

#8 – Magic’s running hook (1988 NBA Finals Game 4 in The Boston Garden)

#7 – Jerry West’s hits a 60′ footer to send the game to OT. Knicks end up winning the game and title (1970 Finals in The Forum)

#6 – Paul Westphal’s timeout and Gar Heard’s turnaround jumper for Phoenix bring Celtics to a 3rd OT. Boston wins game and series. (1976 NBA Finals)

#5 – Wilt’s 100

# 4 – Havlicek steals the ball

#3 – The Clyde Frazier Game.* (1970 Finals Game 7 Knicks vs. Lakers in Madison Square Garden)

#2 – “A steal by Bird…underneath to DJ…he lays it in.” (1988 ECF Game ? Detroit @ Boston)

#1 – MJ’s final shot (in a Bulls uniform)

* You probably know it as the Willis Reed Game. It’s wasn’t. Clyde dropped 36 points and dished 19 assists and in his own words: “Willis provided the inspiration, I provided the devastation.”