One of the biggest gripes about baseball is that everyone seems so sure that only a few teams have any chance of winning the title in a given year. The logic indicates that teams in smaller markets don’t have the financial firepower to compete for talent with a team like, say, the Yankees, who can spend the equivalent of Liberia’s annual GDP to corral any free agent they please. Never mind that the supposedly lowly Tampa Bay Rays won the AL pennant last season, or that the Florida Marlins won it all six years ago (and that was after liquidating nearly all of the roster from their 1997 title run). But I digress.
The NBA maintains wage controls, in the form of a specific but exception-laden salary cap, to prevent that sort of talent hoarding from happening. Kinda like that “whore fund” that your buddies took to Vegas that one time. And I guess it works, since the New York Knicks have become a perennial laughingstock in the NBA’s biggest market, and free agency seems like the least likely answer to get them on track.
Because of the N.B.A.’s salary-cap rules, the Knicks cannot outspend any other team to land a superstar. In fact, [LeBron] James and [Dwyane] Wade can make millions more by staying put. [Knicks coach Mark] D’Antoni is tremendously popular among N.B.A. stars, but his charm and his wide-open offense will get the Knicks only so far on the recruiting trail. Ditto for the mystique of Madison Square Garden and the lure of Madison Avenue. –NY Times.
So the Knicks can’t “buy” themselves into the playoffs like the Yankees supposedly have done, but honestly, while everyone waits for the Summer of LeBron to play out, how can anyone be excited about that team this season? And forget about the NBA for a minute; the competition for a New Yorker’s entertainment dollar is so damn high, especially in These Trying Economic Times. Those whore funds can only stretch so far, people.
If Cleveland’s entire economy is in fact based on LeBron James, then Ohio’s northeast region shouldn’t expect any major setbacks in 2010, according to his mother, Gloria. Unless, of course, you consider actually living in Cleveland to be a setback. Which you should.
The hoops star’s mother, Gloria, told Page Six it’s not happening. “He’s a hometown boy,” she said. LeBron grew up in Akron, Ohio, but his home now is Cleveland.
The Jameses were at the Monkey Bar for the book party Graydon Carter threw for “Shooting Stars” (Penguin Press), the story of LeBron’s team at St. Vincent-St. Mary HS and their coach, Dru Joyce II.via, via.
Monkey Bar? The Knicks are terrible, anyway. It’ll take more than LeBron to shape up that sorry organization. Sure, the Knicks don’t have the legacy of suckitude that Cleveland does, but it’s New York, where everything there is more awesome because people there say it is. They’re like Germany in the 1940s, but without the cool hats.
This image is a spoof of one of the new potential covers for NBA 2K10; this and others have been put up for vote so that YOU THE ARDENT, ASTUTE GAMER can select the cover that appears on the game to be released October 31st. Voting starts here tomorrow and runs through June 15th.
The appearance of Kobe Bryant in a Knicks jersey would have been impressive before all this “LeBron James to the Knicks” talk hadn’t started early in the basketball year–it’s obviously fun in video games to swap star players or even create yourself (some people think it’s bush league to create yourself in a game; that’s why I always a Mexicanized incarnation of myself. You’d be impressed with the season Jorge Zambala’s having in MLB 2K9). That said, enough with the damn Knicks jerseys already. They might have the resources to sign whoever they want–but they aren’t! And the Knicks…SUCK. They haven’t earned the right to be the de facto free agent stop that everyone’s pimping them out to be. Is anybody photo-shopping Anquan Boldin into a Lions jersey? Hell, no.
Somebody needs to photoshop Kobe into a Phoenix Mercury jersey. Because that would be hilarious. And somewhat appropriate. Because he’s a girl, see.
Two days after Kobe Bryant set a Madison Square Garden record with 61 points against the Knicks, LeBron James went off for 52 points and a triple-double in the same building, reminding us all that, oh yeah, LeBron is also somewhat skilled at basketball.
James added 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the Cavs’ 107-102 win to become the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to have a 50-point triple-double, and he joined Michael Jordan as the only player to have mutiple 50-point games in the present MSG. (Of course, Jordan did it against Charles Oakley & Co…)
Also, in case you’re feeling particularly self-conscious about your lack of income, flabby midsection, or weak chin, LeBron is only 24 years old, a multimillionaire with a goal of making a billion dollars, and by all first-hand accounts a genuinely funny and charismatic person. Oh yeah? Well, I bet being 6-foot-8 sucks when he flies in coach! What’s that? He has his own plane? Oh.
Knicks rookie Danilo Gallinari scored a career-high nine points in Monday night’s win over the Bulls, but he wasn’t happy with the way the Knicks’ in-house PA announcer treated his Italian heritage.
After each of his four baskets, the Knicks’ long-time public address announcer Mike Walczewski, using a thick Italian accent, said “Daneeelo Gal-lin-ar-ay” and then the Italian songs “Volare” or “That’s Amore” were played.
When asked about hearing his name, Gallinari said: “I need to talk a little bit with them about that. Because it’s not so good, the pronunciation. I will talk about that. As for the music, no, not so good.”
Gallinari then added, “Ay! Why you make-a fun-a Danilo? I score-a points. I make you pizza. What did Daneelo do to you?” Then he harassed and followed an attractive woman for two blocks before going back to his mother’s house.
So, wait. What was the problem again?
Last night, the New York Post broke the story about the sexual harassment case filed against the Knicks Eddy Curry by his former driver, David Kuchinsky. Well, they’ve updated the story to include this handsome photo of the chauffeur, and Eddy Curry has also been given the opportunity to respond to Kuchinsky’s claims.
Curry… said last night he was “shocked” at the allegations. “It’s false, and everyone who knows me knows I’m not a racist,” he said after the Knicks beat the Hornets in New Orleans. “I’ve never made a comment like that, playing, or nothing… That’s incredible, man.” [...]
Curry’s lawyer, Kelly Saindon, said Kuchinsky began making a series of claims for unpaid wages several months ago, upping the ante each time. Saindon said Curry took a chance on hiring Kuchinsky despite the driver’s criminal record, which includes a three-year prison sentence for a 1992 burglary in New Jersey. He also got three years’ probation in a 2004 resisting-arrest case in the Garden State, records show.
So wait a second. Kuchinsky’s a convicted felon with prison time, and he supposedly turned down the alleged advances of a large black man? I find that very hard to believe, if the axiom about black and going back is correct. Combine that with Curry’s established record of being docile and passive (on and off the court, and everywhere else but the buffet), and it looks like Mr. Kuchinsky may not be seeing much of Curry’s money. The money that Curry has earned with his years of rehabbing and going to practice and sometimes even dieting.
