Tag: Super Friends (Page 9 of 10)

      Kevin Love on “The Decision”

      July 27, 2010 /
      Feb. 17, 2010 - Washington, China - (100218) -- WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Kevin Love (L) of Minnesota Timberwolves vies with James Singleton of Washington Wizards during their NBA games in Washington, Feb. 17, 2010. Wizards won 108-99. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun.

      Kevin Love has some experience being hated by his hometown fans. He left Oregon to play for UCLA, and there were plenty of Duck and Beaver fans that were none too happy about it. When asked about LeBron’s decision to form the Super Friends with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, this is what Love had to say:

      You can’t blame LeBron for wanting to play with two other superstars and contend for as many titles for as many years that they will be together. I do have some empathy for him for what he went through because people from my state hated me for going to UCLA and going out of state—taking my talents [makes quotation marks with his hands and smiles real big] to UCLA and Los Angeles. I do have empathy for him but at the same time I don’t because he did have an hour-long pay per view press conference to say a few sentences about where he was going. I like what Dwyane and Chris did. They got on Pardon the Interruption and said ‘Hey listen, we’re going to play together and we’re excited.’ Chris said his rap about loving the fans of Toronto and never forgetting what they did. I just thought the hour long press conference was way too much.

      It seems like people fall into three groups when it comes to “The Decision”: 1) those that understand/like the move to Miami, and are fine with the special, 2) those that understand/like the move to Miami, but thought the special was inappropriate, and 3) those that hate the special and hate LeBron’s decision to join forces with two other stars.

      It seems like most people fall into category #2 or #3. (I’m a member of #2, and it looks like Love is as well.)

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      Wait, Magic Johnson actually did ‘team up’

      July 22, 2010 /

      Boy, this article by Mike Downey from 1991 sheds some light on Magic Johnson’s assertion that he wouldn’t have teamed up with Larry Bird or Michael Jordan. Apparently, it came down to a coin flip between the Lakers and Bulls, and had Chicago won the toss, Magic was going to stay in school. (Great find by SPORTSbyBROOKS.)

      Magic Johnson would have returned to Michigan State rather than play for the Chicago Bulls.

      “I’d have stayed in school,” he said here Tuesday, standing alone outside Gate 3 1/2 of Chicago Stadium, the house that could have been his. “A coin toss changed the course of my whole life.”

      “I wouldn’t have played here,” Johnson said on the eve of Game 2 of the NBA finals between his team and the team that could have been his. “The only reason I came out was to play with Kareem and the Lakers.“

      Oops. I guess Magic should have kept his big mouth shut.

      This one goes out to all those that are slamming LeBron for bailing on Cleveland and heading to South Beach. Magic chose to go to the Lakers in much the same way that LeBron chose his new team, only one was in the draft and the other was in free agency.

      Egg, please meet face.

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      Magic chimes in on MJ’s ill-advised LeBron comparison

      July 21, 2010 /

      On Monday, I wrote a long piece about how Michael Jordan’s assertion that he never would have called Larry Bird or Magic Johnson up and figured out a way to join forces with them isn’t a fair comparison to Miami’s new Super Friends.

      Now Magic Johnson is getting into the act, per Bloomberg News:

      “We didn’t think about it cause that’s not what we were about,” said Johnson, whose Michigan State squad beat Bird’s Indiana State team in the 1979 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. “From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird.”

      “It was never a question in our mind because nobody has ever done that,” he said.

      So which is it, Magic? You didn’t think about it because that’s not what you were about or because nobody had ever done it before? Because those are two completely different reasons not to do something.

      While Michael’s comparison holds a little bit of water since the Bulls didn’t look like a championship-caliber team until after his fourth season (when he signed his eight-year deal), Magic Johnson joined a stacked Lakers team and won a title as a rookie. In fact, he won two titles in his first three years and went to eight Finals in his first 10 years (winning five titles total). What about that situation gives him the perspective to comment on LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland to chase a ring? Of course he didn’t try to join forces with Larry or Michael — HE WAS ALREADY ON A STACKED TEAM.

      Next up, Larry Bird. Let’s get this over with.

      (By the way, I’m still trying to figure out who Chris Bosh is supposed to be in this comparison. He’s a good player, but Larry or Magic he’s not.)

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      Putting all of this ‘MJ would never have done that’ talk into context

      July 19, 2010 /

      For at least a year now, we’ve been hearing people criticize LeBron for potentially (and now actually) leaving the Cavs to play with another superstar. One of the arguments they often bring up is how Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, or Magic Johnson would never have left Chicago, Boston or L.A. to form a dynasty elsewhere.

      Now, even Jordan has said that he wouldn’t have called those guys up and tried to join forces.

      “There’s no way, with hindsight, I would’ve ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, ‘Hey, look, let’s get together and play on one team,’ ” Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. “But that’s … things are different. I can’t say that’s a bad thing. It’s an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys.”

      Skip Bayless, in his infinite wisdom, has been saying this for months, and took this moment to gloat a bit about what MJ said.

      “Michael said, ‘I’m going to stay in Chicago.'”

      In September of 1988, coming off his first MVP, Jordan signed an eight-year deal worth $25 million. (Soak those numbers in for a moment…the greatest player ever to play the game made about $3 million a season in his prime. Amazing.) The Bulls were 50-32 the previous season (Scottie Pippen’s first year in the league) and were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. So his playing situation was not unlike LeBron’s, though I don’t think too many NBA stars would choose the city of Cleveland over Chicago.

      Continue reading »

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      James Jones returns to Miami

      July 19, 2010 /

      Per the South Florida Sun Sentinel, James Jones has re-upped with the Heat.

      So despite being forced to take a $3 million pay cut by the Miami Heat just three weeks ago, the 3-point specialist and University of Miami product said Sunday he is coming back, this time with the bonus of playing not only alongside Dwyane Wade, but also heralded free-agent additions LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

      “I have to come back. This is not something I could pass up,” Jones told the Sun Sentinel. “This is too much of an opportunity to bypass.”

      Jones, 29, will now wind up receiving dual paychecks from the Heat this season. Originally due $4.7 million for 2010-11, Jones received a $1.6 million buyout from the team in June. He now will sign back at the veterans’ minimum of $1 million for the coming season.

      The Spurs were reportedly interested in Jones and had $2.4 million of their mid-level exception remaining (along with their $2.1 million bi-annual exception).

      Jones is a career 40% three-point shooter, but hasn’t played more than 16 minutes a game in either of the last two seasons, and injuries have forced him out of 88 games during that span. He probably felt that he owed it to the franchise to sign at a discount. (If he didn’t, he should have. I have no idea why NBA contracts are fully guaranteed.)

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