Co-existing Superstars

Dwayne Wade and LeBron James are two alpha dogs who had amazing careers before they joined forces in Miami. James was busy putting up ridiculous numbers at Cleveland and Wade was doing the same thing in Miami. Wade in 2006, was considered the best player in the league after winning his first NBA championship. Since then Wade has always been considered a top five to top ten player in the league.

I think it is pretty amazing for these two superstars to co-exist and make a run like the Heat are doing right now. The Heat have one the last two NBA championships and are looking to make it a three peat. Being able to co-exist is a combination of your game and your personalities. LeBron has always been a team player since he has been in the league and I've noticed the advice that he gives to younger players is be the best teammate that you can be. I feel like Wade deserves the most credit because he had to swallow his pride and let LeBron be the main guy on the team for the Heat to succeed. Dwayne Wade would be the number one option on about 26 out of the 30 teams in the league, that is how good he is.

I look at last year at how Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard could no co-exist at all. They are also two superstars who joined forces, but they could not get along. Kobe is not the type of player who is going to let another player share the spotlight with him and Dwight is too soft to realize Kobe is not going to baby him. Dwight Howard is not in Houston so we can see how far that got. Another example is Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire co-existing in New York a couple of years ago. Along with Kobe, Carmelo does not want to share the spotlight let alone let his scoring average go down because of another player. Now it has gotten to Amare coming of the bench and not even close to the player he used to be.

"My view as James and Wade get ready to defend the Pacers on February 2, 2013"
(My image Dominique Neely)

It comes down to wanting to win championships and Dwayne Wade has sacrificed his numbers for 2 more championships so far. Wade has also helped out LeBron in a big way that people do not realize. LeBron used to be dancing and goofing around on the sidelines all of the time and you do not see that anymore. It is all about business now and LeBron has become more mature.

Potential Playoff Matchup

The Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat met in the Eastern Conference Finals last year and it was a great one. The series was tight the whole way through ending up in game 7 where LeBron and the Heat eventually prevailed. Last year, the best player on the Pacers from the previous year, Danny Granger, was hurt for the whole season so NBA fans were not expecting a playoff run like they had. In the absence of Granger last year, Paul George stepped up and became an all star at the age of 22.

This year the Pacers have Granger back and are expected to start George at the 2 guard position standing at 6'9. There have been a lot of questions about Granger and George playing with each other after the injury. Granger was the go to man before the injury, but now George has become their number one option.

I believe that in the Eastern Conference Finals this year that the Pacers will face the Heat again and here are the player match-ups.

Point Guards: George Hill(Pacers) vs Mario Chalmers(Heat)
George Hill has good size and plays terrific defense along with being a good offensive player. Chalmers is a good three point shooter and is a pest defensively.
Edge: Geroge Hill

Shooting Guards: Paul George(Pacers) vs Dwayne Wade(Heat)
Paul George is an all star that is a mismatch for almost every team in the league. He can shoot it from 3, pull up with a mid range jumper, or get all the way to the rim. Dwayne Wade is a 3 time world champion and an all star who is looking to be healthy this year and be back to the old ways of Wade.
Edge: Dwayne Wade

Small Forward: Danny Granger(Pacers) vs LeBron James(Heat)
This isn't even a question. No explanation needed.
Edge: LeBron James

Power Forward: David West(Pacers) vs Udonis Haslem(Heat)
David West is a force down in the post, having a variety of post moves and a terrific mid range shooter. Haslem is more of a guy to do all the dirty work like rebounding and hustling.
Edge: David West

Center: Roy Hibbert(Pacers) vs Chris Bosh(Heat)
Roy Hibbert is really becoming an all star standing at 7'2. He has been a huge problem for the Heat in the past and is a force down low by scoring, rebounding, and blocking shots. Chris Bosh would rather shoot from the perimeter then to go down low in the post. He is an all star but is someone I believe that should be at the power forward position.
Edge: Roy Hibbert

Despite the match up advantage for the Pacers I believe the Heat will potentially win the series again because the Pacers do not have an answer for LeBron James.

"My view as LeBron James defends Paul George on February 2, 2013"
(My image Dominique Neely)

Kobe Jordan or LeBron?

This past week there has been a buzz going around the NBA about who you want to take the last shot of a game? ESPN The Magazine recently interviewed twenty-six current NBA players and asked them who they would want to take the last shot of a game: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James. Respectively, twenty-three players rolled with Jordan and three went with Kobe Bryant.

LeBron James obviously got zero votes from the twenty-six players and I am having a hard time understanding that. LeBron James is the best player in the NBA today and some people even think it is unarguable. I am not saying that I would take LeBron over Jordan, but I am saying that I would take him over Kobe.

Since LeBron entered the league in the 2003-2004 season, no one has made more game tying or go ahead shots in the final twenty-four seconds of a playoff game than LeBron. He has shot a remarkable 7-16 from the field on a 43.8% field goal percentage. The league average on those type of shots is 28.3%, so James is way above that mark. Kobe Bryant is shooting 25% on 7-28 from the field and Jordan eclipses them all shooting 50% on 9-18 from the field.

My opinion is that LeBron should have gotten more votes than Kobe Bryant, but that was not the case. I have spent time thinking about why that is and I have came up with a couple answers. First, LeBron has always been thought of to not have a "clutch gene", which means that he does not perform well in the clutch moments. LeBron has always been put on a high pedestal since he entered the league and I think every time he fails it's more of a bigger deal then when Kobe fails. Second, LeBron is a reigning two time world champion so I am assuming the rest of the league is not to fond of him.

"LeBron's numbers speak"
(My image Dominique Neely)

Return of The Injuries

The biggest headlines coming into the NBA season are the return of All-Star players due to injuries. Those being; Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, and Kobe Bryant. They will have the most impact.

Derrick Rose grabs attention coming off his ACL injury. Before his first preseason game on October 5th, Rose had not played an NBA game in 526 days.  Rose has done a collection of commercials that say his main focus is to go all in for Chicago. Last year the Chicago Bulls had a fairly good season without him, earning the 5th seed in the playoffs and making it to the second round before losing to the champion Miami Heat. This year with Rose back expectations are very high and they are expected to make a run for the title.

Russell Westbrook is coming off a freak injury, suffered in the first round of the playoffs last year. Westbrook was going to the sideline to call timeout and Patrick Beverley made a controversial play at trying to steal the ball. Westbrook tore his meniscus and had to miss the rest of the playoffs. The Thunder struggled without Westbrook losing to Memphis in the second round 4 to 1. Westbrook was expected to play around the start of the season this year, but something went wrong after surgery on his knee and he has to miss 4 to 6 weeks when the season starts. Without Westbrook to start the season I think the Thunder will struggle, without Westbrook they will not be a contender in the Western Conference.

Rajon Rondo tore his ACL last year during the regular season. The Celtics seemed to struggled without him by receiving the 7th seed and getting knocked out the first round. Rondo doesn't have anything to look forward to in his return because they traded Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry. In my opinion the Celtics won't make the playoffs this year.

Injuries can have a big impact on a teams success
(Photo Dominique Neely)

Kobe Bryant is coming back from a torn achilles and trying to make a push for the playoffs. However with the team he has  this year it is not looking good. Kobe will not make it back for the start of the season and I don't see the Lakers winning a game without him. Laker Fans will be taking a back seat to their cross town rivals the Los Angeles Clippers for the second year in a row.

NBA Hoops

Welcome to a blog where the National Basketball Association will be discussed weekly talking about the biggest headlines at the current time. I will be having a variety of different blogs that will include individual players, teams, performances, and match-ups. I am a sport management major and I am looking to get into a position that deals with the NBA. I would consider NBA basketball to be a passion of mine so my knowledge about the game should reflect that.

LeBron James happens to be my favorite player in the league and has always been my favorite since he went to the Cavaliers in 2003. Just to clear things up I am not a Miami Heat bandwagon fan, I am a LeBron James fan. A lot of people like to down play Lebron right now because he is at the top and I will discuss more on that in future blogs.

Because of my location in college the Cleveland Cavaliers are a team that I am starting to follow. I think this year will be a year they can really make a leap especially if Andrew Bynum keeps his hair normal and actually plays a game.

I look forward to sharing my knowledge about the league in the coming weeks.

A symbol of what this blog is going to be all about.
(Photo Dominique Neely)