2013 NBA Season News and Discussion

[Blueobelisk]

Apparently, credit to NYPost, David Stern called Mikhail Provokov and James Dolan (Nets and Knicks owners, respectively) to his office, and told them to play nice. All because Paul Pierce said Nets were gonna take NY as their city, and then Raymond Felton responded NY will always be the Knicks city.

As a New Yorker who respects and hopes for the best out of both of his home teams, I'd say mind your fucking business David Stern, no one fucking asked you.

[Stommped]

Wait are you a Knicks fan or Nets fan? I always thought Knicks.

[Blueobelisk]

I live in NY so I root for any NY teams. I like both the Knicks and the Nets. If you put a gun to my head to choose one I like, then I'll go with liking the Knicks better but wanting the Nets to win a title, right now. Then I'd call the cops. And also, San Antonio is my 3rd favorite team that I adopted. After that, I like Orlando since my grandparents live there and I visit them often, but Orlando probably hates me since I keep emailing them how shifty them and their GM are and how they didn't let me watch the summer league.

And for record:
Conscript - Detroit
Jib - Chicago, adopted Dallas
Stompped - Chicago
Skars - San Antonio
IcedWarrior - any team Lebron James isn't on, Lakers
Lakers01 - Lakers? I guess lol. Looks like Clippers too.
Spectral - Idk.
Pendulous - Utah
Buck - Miami

Idk which team(s) everyone else root for.

[Spectral]

Spectral - Idk.

The Washington Professional Basketball Team Formally Known As The Bullets.

Also, placeholder Western Conference favorite spot whenever a team lands in Seattle again. Also, a huge soft spot for Duncan, leading to me cheering for the Spurs a lot, but I probably won't care about them after he retires.

[buck008]

The Washington Professional Basketball Team Formally Known As The Bullets.

Also, placeholder Western Conference favorite spot whenever a team lands in Seattle again.

I kind of agree with the Bill Simmons take on the future of Seattle basketball. That is, it is way more valuable as a tool to extort current NBA cities to do whatever the league wants than it would be as an actual NBA city again. So exactly like the NFL uses LA.

Totally agree that Washington should be the Bullets again. Wizards is a shitty name. Is there even a reason they went with it?

[icedwarrior]

I live in NY so I root for any NY teams. I like both the Knicks and the Nets. If you put a gun to my head to choose one I like, then I'll go with liking the Knicks better but wanting the Nets to win a title, right now. Then I'd call the cops. And also, San Antonio is my 3rd favorite team that I adopted. After that, I like Orlando since my grandparents live there and I visit them often, but Orlando probably hates me since I keep emailing them how shifty them and their GM are and how they didn't let me watch the summer league.

Not that I really care, but I feel that you should really only have one "team", especially when your team isn't utterly terrible.

And for record:
IcedWarrior - any team Lebron James isn't on, Lakers

Hmm, I don't remember saying "any team LeBron James isn't on"...perhaps I said that in anger? I dunno. I find it amusing that you not only listed me as the only person that's against something, but that it prefaces what team I root for.

[Spectral]

I kind of agree with the Bill Simmons take on the future of Seattle basketball. That is, it is way more valuable as a tool to extort current NBA cities to do whatever the league wants than it would be as an actual NBA city again. So exactly like the NFL uses LA.

Agreed, sadly. I don't think Seattle's ownership group is in a position to put in the kind of bid that'd be necessary to wrangle a team at this point.

Totally agree that Washington should be the Bullets again. Wizards is a shitty name. Is there even a reason they went with it?

Well, you see, kids in Washington D.C. that were otherwise wildly uninterested in violence were seeing that name up on the marquee and thinking to themselves, "gee, I'd like to engage in some gunplay!". Some brilliant marketing executive thought, "hmmm, what name can we use that has alliteration, but no connection whatsoever to the city or region", and the Wizards were born!

For real though, I don't think there's actually any real reason for Wizards... other than that many marketing people are idiots.

[jreg]

And for record:
Conscript - Detroit
Jib - Chicago, adopted Dallas
Stompped - Chicago
Skars - San Antonio
IcedWarrior - any team Lebron James isn't on, Lakers
Lakers01 - Lakers? I guess lol. Looks like Clippers too.
Spectral - Idk.
Pendulous - Utah
Buck - Miami

Idk which team(s) everyone else root for.

Miami and Toronto.

[buck008]

Agreed, sadly. I don't think Seattle's ownership group is in a position to put in the kind of bid that'd be necessary to wrangle a team at this point.

Well, you see, kids in Washington D.C. that were otherwise wildly uninterested in violence were seeing that name up on the marquee and thinking to themselves, "gee, I'd like to engage in some gunplay!". Some brilliant marketing executive thought, "hmmm, what name can we use that has alliteration, but no connection whatsoever to the city or region", and the Wizards were born!

For real though, I don't think there's actually any real reason for Wizards... other than that many marketing people are idiots.

I heard the Seattle group is trying to sue as a last ditch effort. If that doesn't happen, it's going to be a looong time before another team becomes available.

Yea, I remember why they changed it from Bullets even though it referred to the trains not the projectiles. I just wondered if there was some significance to Wizards or if some d-bag just came up with a name.

[Blueobelisk]

Miami and Toronto.

I knew Toronto but I wasn't sure with Miami..

Hmm, I don't remember saying "any team LeBron James isn't on"...perhaps I said that in anger? I dunno. I find it amusing that you not only listed me as the only person that's against something, but that it prefaces what team I root for.

Where would I get the impression that you don't like Lebron's team?

To make it clear, I don't like LeBron.

Well, okay then. I dislike LeBron.

I don't hate LeBron because he's the best player in the game, I hate him for how he conducts himself.

I respect the hell out of LeBron James' game, but as a person, I dislike him.

Why must I hate LeBron[...]

I actually feel like I missed the quote where you said it lol.

[icedwarrior]

Where would I get the impression that you don't like Lebron's team?

I have no idea, good sir. I was curious where you found that particular quote. As you've stated, I don't exactly keep it a secret, I just hadn't recalled expressing it in that regard.

To remain somewhat on topic, I'm not really looking forward to this NBA season, considering where the Lakers are sitting. They're not that competitive when matched up with the top teams, and yet they (I assume) just competitive enough to miss out on the playoffs. So they can't really compete for anything, and yet get a shitty draft pick. And, as a couple of you have predicted, I don't exactly expect Kobe to just lie back and accept a tanking season, so he'll probably try and play out of his mind and inevitably injure himself. *sighs*

[Blueobelisk]

WAIT. Nevermind. I found it.

First off, full disclosure: I am a Laker fan.

Don't lie to these people. You're just an anti-Lebron James fan.

I am both. Moreso a Laker fan, but...

To stay on topic *cough* I'll mention Tony Parker injured his knee a little playing for France.

I'm kind of against stars playing competitively for the summer since it's their job to be healthy for the regular season and playoffs, but on the other hand they do need to stay in shape.

I think Parker will be fine, but his age is getting up there and he's expected to be great for the Spurs, he can't be getting injuries of any kind.

[buck008]

Kobe is like 1000 points shy of Jordan. He's not missing any more time than he absolutely has to.

[conscript]

I heard the Seattle group is trying to sue as a last ditch effort. If that doesn't happen, it's going to be a looong time before another team becomes available.

Yea, I remember why they changed it from Bullets even though it referred to the trains not the projectiles. I just wondered if there was some significance to Wizards or if some d-bag just came up with a name.

The Wizards did a naming contest where you suggested a name at Boston Market, the restaurant, and then they whittled it down to 5 finalists, Sea Dogs, Stallions, Express, Dragons, and Wizards and then the fans voted through a phone vote.

At this point Seattle is just being used as a threat for teams that want to exploit government for new arenas because their cheap ass billionaire owners don't want to fund their own business operation anymore than they have to. Yay corporate welfare!

[icausewipes]

I'm a Lebron fan. Nobody should fault him for wanting to leave Cleveland. At least he didn't go to New York or L.A.

Stern is working on it..

[buck008]

The Wizards did a naming contest where you suggested a name at Boston Market, the restaurant, and then they whittled it down to 5 finalists, Sea Dogs, Stallions, Express, Dragons, and Wizards and then the fans voted through a phone vote.

At this point Seattle is just being used as a threat for teams that want to exploit government for new arenas because their cheap ass billionaire owners don't want to fund their own business operation anymore than they have to. Yay corporate welfare!

That is a terrible way to name a team. Poor DC.

The league/team does generally pay to lease the facility, so I suppose it's more of a loan. Also, the public retains control over the building and so can use it for other events to make money. Toss in the jobs, and there are some good reasons to build these things. I just hate it when entitled billionaires act like they deserve a publicly funded building because they were kind enough to not move the team, or try to extort a new building out of an area that can't really afford it. At least no owner has been enough of a d-bag to sign a bunch of players and promise a higher standard play on the field to extort a new stadium, only to dismantle the team the very next season. Yea, not a flawed system at all.

[Blueobelisk]

I emailed GEICO and told them to sponsor another HORSE competition for the 2015 NBA All Star game in New York. Rondo vs. KD is a legend.

[conscript]

That is a terrible way to name a team. Poor DC.

That is how a lot of the teams in the NBA were named sadly. Blazers, Suns, Wizards, Cavs, Heat, Timberwolves, Thunder, Mavs, and Magic were all fan suggestions through contests and were then selected by the franchise (The Blazers fans actually voted for the Pioneers but management didn't want to use the same name as a local college) or were the winners of fan votes. There might be several more. I can't remember if Raptors was a vote thing or not. Zach Lowe over at Grantland did a piece on names a couple weeks ago.

[Jibjabb]

Sea Dogs and Express I dont like at all as names. The other 3 are mostly all the same quality to me.

Only times I think teams should name change is if they move to a new city and their old name doesnt make any sense. Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz are two prime examples. I doubt there are many Grizzlies in Memphis either since they came from Vancouver. Come to think of it, I've never seen a Bull near Chicago either.

[Stommped]

The Orlando Juice would have been insane.