If you are a fan of the NBA or professional sports in general, chances are you've heard about the latest controversy surrounding LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling. If you haven't I'll give you the skinny on the situation. Sterling was having a conversation with his girlfriend Vanessa (V.) Stiviano. Unbeknownst to him, the entire thing was being recorded by Ms. Stiviano. The comments that Sterling made in this conversation were racist in general. Mostly revolving around the fact that he did not want his girlfriend making her outings with African Americans public on Instagram. Stiviano, who had posted a picture of herself with a picture of Magic Johnson, is a half African American, half Latina woman herself, which makes the situation even more interesting.
The latest information on the still developing story is that today (4/29/14), newly appointed NBA commissioner Adam Silver will make a ruling on the repercussions of the Sterling audio tapes. This press conference which will take place at 2pm EST is a very hot issue amongst the NBA, and sports community as a whole. This is commissioner Silver's first incident to deal with, and what a heavy initiation of sorts it is. Some who strongly criticize the words in Sterling's tape are hoping that he is removed of his ownership of the team. Some wish for Sterling to be fined, and/or suspended from the league for the remainder of the season. And then there are people who say there should be no repercussions for Sterling's actions because of the first amendment, arguing for his right to freedom of speech.
Personally, I believe that the commissioner should suspend Sterling as owner of the team for the remainder of the season, as well as issue a fine of a substantial amount. Taking the complete ownership of the Clippers away from Sterling (which is valued at around $575 million) is a very hefty fine, which I do not see likely for the new commissioner to issue.
This story is ongoing, and I hope that most parties are satisfied with the outcome of tomorrow's press conference. It is inevitable that some people will be left disappointed after the ruling of the commissioner due to the enormous amount of opinions which have been formed by individuals, like myself.
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EDIT :
The commissioner has officially ruled that Donald Sterling is to be banned from the NBA for life, and is also to be fined $2.5 Million dollars. The ban is effective immediately, however, Mr. Sterling is still the owner of the Clippers for the time being. In order for him to be removed from this position, a 3/4 vote from the remaining 29 owners in the league is required. This vote should be held very soon, and commissioner Silver sounded very convinced that the vote will end up removing Sterling as owner.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
LeBron James' Personal Dunk Contests
Over the course of his eleven year NBA career, LeBron James has won four league MVP awards, two NBA Championships with the Miami Heat, two Finals MVP awards, and he is also a ten time All Star. In my opinion, there are only two things that LeBron is missing from his list of achievements in the NBA thus far: Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Dunk Contest participant/winner. As far as the first point goes, James has been on the first team All-Defense the last five years, but has never been the overall Defensive Player of the Year.
But the second point is what I would like to focus on. Fans of basketball have been wanting to see LeBron's name in the field of Dunk Contest participants for years now. James is one of the best in-game dunkers in the NBA at the moment. I would put him and Blake Griffin at the top of that list. James is, what most people refer to as, a power dunker. This is where people may argue that he does not belong in the Dunk Contest since he is not the most acrobatic dunker. However, James has proved these naysayers wrong the last couple of years.
The last two Februaries, LeBron has shown off his flashy dunks to the public. Not during All Star weekend, but in pre-game warmups and practices. Last year, James showed that he had a couple contest worthy dunks in his arsenal. Whether it was his powerful tomahawks, between the legs dunks, or the 360 under the leg self ally-oop, James left fans curious as to why his name was not included in the 2013 Dunk Contest.
In the past two days, LeBron has had some high flying moments that have fans asking this same question. On February 10th, the Heat were in the Phoenix practice facility preparing for the next day's game against the Suns. LeBron decided to show off a couple of dunks in the Phoenix Suns' practice facility. Both of these dunks consisted of him throwing the ball off of a faraway wall in the gym, then throwing it down with authority. On February 11th, James pulled off another astonishing dunk. In the third quarter of the game, LeBron stole the ball and was all alone on a breakaway towards the basket. He took off from just inside the free throw line and performed a very clean windmill dunk that drew some gasps from the Phoenix crowd.
Some have said that these last two Februaries from LeBron have been to show fans what he has to offer for the contest. If he does these kinds of dunks in any other month, most people would give him a pass. It may come back up if he did not enter the contest, but there would not be anywhere near the outcry as there has been this month, and last February as well. Hopefully LeBron will participate in the Dunk Contest at least once in his NBA career, but I believe the last couple of years were the perfect time for him to compete. James is not getting any younger, and if the Heat keep making deep playoff runs as they have the last three years, there are a lot of minutes being put on his legs.
All of this being said, I am still incredibly excited for the Dunk Contest every year. LeBron not being in the contest does not take too much away from the event, but having him in it would add so much more.
But the second point is what I would like to focus on. Fans of basketball have been wanting to see LeBron's name in the field of Dunk Contest participants for years now. James is one of the best in-game dunkers in the NBA at the moment. I would put him and Blake Griffin at the top of that list. James is, what most people refer to as, a power dunker. This is where people may argue that he does not belong in the Dunk Contest since he is not the most acrobatic dunker. However, James has proved these naysayers wrong the last couple of years.
The last two Februaries, LeBron has shown off his flashy dunks to the public. Not during All Star weekend, but in pre-game warmups and practices. Last year, James showed that he had a couple contest worthy dunks in his arsenal. Whether it was his powerful tomahawks, between the legs dunks, or the 360 under the leg self ally-oop, James left fans curious as to why his name was not included in the 2013 Dunk Contest.
In the past two days, LeBron has had some high flying moments that have fans asking this same question. On February 10th, the Heat were in the Phoenix practice facility preparing for the next day's game against the Suns. LeBron decided to show off a couple of dunks in the Phoenix Suns' practice facility. Both of these dunks consisted of him throwing the ball off of a faraway wall in the gym, then throwing it down with authority. On February 11th, James pulled off another astonishing dunk. In the third quarter of the game, LeBron stole the ball and was all alone on a breakaway towards the basket. He took off from just inside the free throw line and performed a very clean windmill dunk that drew some gasps from the Phoenix crowd.
Some have said that these last two Februaries from LeBron have been to show fans what he has to offer for the contest. If he does these kinds of dunks in any other month, most people would give him a pass. It may come back up if he did not enter the contest, but there would not be anywhere near the outcry as there has been this month, and last February as well. Hopefully LeBron will participate in the Dunk Contest at least once in his NBA career, but I believe the last couple of years were the perfect time for him to compete. James is not getting any younger, and if the Heat keep making deep playoff runs as they have the last three years, there are a lot of minutes being put on his legs.
All of this being said, I am still incredibly excited for the Dunk Contest every year. LeBron not being in the contest does not take too much away from the event, but having him in it would add so much more.
Monday, January 27, 2014
While I was gone...
During my absence from this blog, something incredible has been happening in the world of sports. Of course, I am talking about Kevin Durant's performance last month in the NBA.
In the last 30 days, the Oklahoma City Thunder played 17 games. In the 16 that Durant played in, he scored over 30 points in 14 of them. The other two games he scored 21 and 24 points. However, Durant decided to make up for these two 20 point games by scoring 54, 48 (twice), and 46 points. The impressive numbers don't stop here either. Durant managed to shoot over 50 percent from the field over this stretch, and he racked up 4 double-doubles (including one triple double) as well.
This month has all but solidified Durant as the front runner for the mid-season MVP. Before January, it was a two horse race between himself and the Miami Heat's LeBron James. Wednesday night, the Thunder and Heat will square off in what could possibly be a 2014 NBA Finals preview. Durant will be entering this game coming off of a 41 point performance with a game winning shot tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. Will Durant's January hot streak continue, or will James extinguish his flames?
In the last 30 days, the Oklahoma City Thunder played 17 games. In the 16 that Durant played in, he scored over 30 points in 14 of them. The other two games he scored 21 and 24 points. However, Durant decided to make up for these two 20 point games by scoring 54, 48 (twice), and 46 points. The impressive numbers don't stop here either. Durant managed to shoot over 50 percent from the field over this stretch, and he racked up 4 double-doubles (including one triple double) as well.
This month has all but solidified Durant as the front runner for the mid-season MVP. Before January, it was a two horse race between himself and the Miami Heat's LeBron James. Wednesday night, the Thunder and Heat will square off in what could possibly be a 2014 NBA Finals preview. Durant will be entering this game coming off of a 41 point performance with a game winning shot tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. Will Durant's January hot streak continue, or will James extinguish his flames?
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