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Every professional sport lives by the famous adage, “Coaches are hired to be fired.” It is well known that when things go south, it is the coach and not the players who get the blame and the ax.
In the NBA, with 15 players collectively making somewhere north of $60 million in salary and being almost impossible to replace, it is no wonder that the coach and his assistants are the usual fall guys for poor performance. Few jobs carry so much responsibility with such little real authority.
It is almost as if Gregg Popovich and Erik Spoelstra knew this was coming all along and have been preparing for this two-week journey against each other for many, many months. Before we dive into our betting preview for the NBA Finals, it is important to learn how we got to this point.
This just in from Clipper Nation, where the home team can take its pick among top coaching candidates Lionel Hollins, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott and Brian Shaw.
And the winner is …
Let me get back to you on that.
No decision may soon be forthcoming from owner Donald Sterling, as none was for weeks after his people recommended firing Vinny Del Negro, a no-brainer they had set up that way with Sterling’s help.
It’s hard to to handicap the Clippers with officials given little weight by an owner who’s short on clues, and now, once again, in prime Confusion Mode.
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We are just weeks away from the 2013 NBA draft. It is June and now the pre-draft workouts go into full swing.
Within the lottery, the big news is that Orlando has pushed Victor Oladipo ahead of Ben McLemore on its draft board. McLemore has yet to formally hire an agent and has been questioned about his ties to Rodney Blackstock.
Orlando also has had conversations with the Los Angeles Clippers about acquiring point guard Eric Bledsoe, who, combined with Oladipo, could give the Magic the most athletic young backcourt in the NBA.
The back end of the lottery remains in flux as Minnesota, Portland, and Dallas all would love to move their picks. The Thunder are content to stay at 12 and grab a center unless C.J. McCollum – whom I am told they love – is available.
A few rapid risers into the first round and just outside of it who bear watching are Tim Hardaway Jr., Myck Kabongo, and Glen Rice Jr. It would not be surprising to see all three selected in the first round.
With that comes draft speculation and misinformation. Sorting through all the buzz and rumors and deciphering what is true and what isn’t makes for a full-time job.
Without further ado, here is a Mock Draft 4.0:
Among the monumental sports topics that are debated everywhere – from local fine drinking establishments to radio and television shows where participants spend hours shouting at each other – is the issue of dynasties.
In sports, identifying and labeling dynasties is a must. It’s part of our DNA. And then when a dynasty is established and accepted as fact, it must be compared to other dynasties. That is mandatory. It is what makes sports sports.
