TheNextBestThing

Shaquille O'Neal. Statistics are nice, and so are wins. Of course, today's NBA is not the same league that Russell and Wilt dominated. Shaq's ability to simply overpower his defender is something that you just can't ignore, but people forget that he didn't just rely on his physicality. Shaq has an arsenal of moves, and is one of the best passing centers ever. If Josh Smith had played decades ago, people would be considering him one of the best ever to play the game. The same is true of Gerald Wallace, Danny Granger, or Rudy Gay. I realize that Russell captured a dozen championships, and Wilt scored 50 every night, but it's not fair to compare their competition to what Shaq faced. And destroyed.

Yeah, have to go for Magic Johnson. Scoring, rebounding and passing at the top of the list. Not a great defender, but not a bad one either. He just made things happen.

Because when things go wrong for you, it's a lot easier to just blame race.

Well. If Chris Douglas-Roberts isn't pushing for him, then it's over. My sources say that he's basically the general manager.

Country- George Strait Southern rock- Lynyrd Skynyrd

There were championship contenders beating down the doors of Bobby Simmons and Tony Battie? Not to mention, it's easy to say that they just don't care about winning, but think about it. How much time would Battie get on the Mavs? More importantly, how big would his role be? So even if the Mavs won, it would be tough for Tony to feel like he was winning.

How exactly did they turn down winning for money?

Dirk and Curry is better than Anthony and Westbrook. Dirk has picked it up recently, and with the playoffs looming is likely to keep it up. Also, Monta Ellis is hurt. That will be excellent for Curry's numbers. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is starting to think "MVP", and I wouldn't want to be Westbrook right now. J.R. Smith is better than Chandler. You're right about McGrady stealing time and (even more importantly) shots from the other Knicks.

Tayshaun Prince, Andrei Kirilenko, Mickael Pietrus, Trenton Hassell, Shawn Marion, and Trevor Ariza. So yeah, LeBron is not the man you want to stick on your enemy's first option.

Yeah, maybe they chose black puppets to send a message. Or maybe they just chose the two most famous players in the league, who happen to be black. The fact that Kobe abd LeBron are so well-spoken is probably why they feel comfortable with these videos. Clearly any negative implications are unfounded. And the "pointless self-promotion?" You do realize that this is a commercial? If anything, the inherent contradictions should destroy the credibility of any insult. And if it has no basis, why would it be upsetting? And yes, veiled racism doesn't lie in the obvious. That is what "veiled" means. BONUS: I know you like the ridiculous Steve Nash commercials (who doesn't?). They make Steve Nash look like a total idiot, not to mention the vitamin water ones that portray him as an insufferable jerk. Why is it not racist to trounce the reputation of white people like that? After all, if you show someone behaving stupidly in a commercial, you're insinuating that every member of his race acts the same way, right? Except you're not. Because surreal contradictions are just that: not indicative of reality. I think you're really jumping at shadows here.

LeBron v.s. Kobe is too much opinion over fact, but it's ok to write about whether players deserve their salaries or if steroids are bad for sports? Ok, then. Actually, the salaries thing is pretty good. The obvious position in that they don't, so you should go the other way. Bring up the "NBA Cares" program, as well as the owners (especially Mark Cuban) that are the lifeblood of multiple charities.

For a spot in the second round?

When it's so sudden and unexpected.

Ok, are you criticizing the use of advanced statistics because they haven't pushed Houston into being a contender? And, one advanced statistic is the "how these two guys do together" stat. I suppose it would be quite accurate for Martin/Evans.

Why not?

I would absolutely send Richardson and Amare for Iguodala and Dalembert. That would solve more than a few of the problems we've been having recently.

No. Duncan isn't quite the same this year. In fact, I'd say that Bosh is now better than Duncan.

Fox sports has an interesting poll here. Apparently, most people would call Bosh a top 10 player (the vote is 60-40 in favor right now). Bosh is a great player, but I don't see top 10. 1. Kobe Bryant 2. LeBron James 3. Dwyane Wade 4. Dwight Howard 5. Chris Paul 6. Carmelo Anthony 7. Dirk Nowitzki 8. Steve Nash 9. Kevin Durant 10. Deron Williams Though evidently, I'm in the minority. So, is Bosh a top 10 player? If so, who on my list does he top?

Yao Ming never becomes expendable until he absolutely can't play anymore. The man is in the discussion for best center in the league. Even if I know he'll have injury problems until he dies, I keep him, because it's that large of a boost when he does play.

Correct. Amare leaving for nothing would be disastrous, for sure. But the potential rewards of him staying are large enough to make it worth the risk. It's like paying $5 to play a slot game that gives you a 30% chance of winning $100. Even if you'll probably lose, it's still smart to play.

I would trade anybody except Nash and Stoudemire for him. Seriously. I wonder if God made a mistake letting one man be so huge, violent, and psychopathic.

My second thought was, "Wow, this is kind of racist." But honestly, my first thought was, "Yes! I do have a future in basketball!"

Oh Lord. Please, please don't let this happen. I'm not really attached to Amare, and I think we could trade him for someone better. But not J.J. Hickson.

Corey Maggette is the better player now. Yes, Eddie Jordan hasn't used Brand fully. But to be honest, I think that Brand never recovered from his injury. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think he ever will.

I'm not sure if 7 years is a stretch at all. For Kobe, winning a title with Shaq as MVP was probably worse than a losing season.