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Danilo Gallinari’s season-ending injury this week put the Denver Nuggets in a club whose membership seems to get larger every day.
Playoff teams missing key players.
There are very few teams who will be at full strength when the playoffs start two weekends from now. But two of those teams are last year’s NBA Finals combatants, which could make for a relatively mundane postseason.
This column was originally going to be a convincing piece as to why Maurice Cheeks (full disclosure: my favorite player of all time) deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
Then Stan Van Gundy decided enough was enough and exposed for all of us Dwight Howard’s true character – a selfish brat whose childish demands and indecision make him utterly impossible.
When this mess in the Magic Kingdom shakes out sometime in May, Van Gundy will be unemployed, because that’s what happens in the NBA. He doesn’t seem too upset by that looming probability.
Moments after blowing the whistle on Howard – revealing that the spoiled superstar, in fact, has called for the coach’s head on a stick – Van Gundy offered up this gem Thursday.
“I’m the coach until they decide I’m not the coach,” he said. “It’s 12:02 right now. If they want to fire me at 12:05, I’ll go home and find something to do. I’ll have a good day.”
Van Gundy’s conviction about his future happiness almost certainly is tied to the fact that he no longer will be part of an entire franchise being held hostage by Howard, whose unlikability is now so pronounced he has unseated LeBron James as the NBA’s resident villain.
Despite a recent five-game losing streak – the longest of Van Gundy’s five-year tenure in Orlando – the Magic remain firmly entrenched as a playoff team. They are there because of the coach, who in a blur of a season with no teaching time has somehow held together a locker room with bungee cords and duct tape.
Hedo Turkoglu, whose best years came in his first stint with the Magic as a playmaking forward, swears by Van Gundy. So does Ryan Anderson, who is having the best season of his career as a dead-eye stretch-4. And Jameer Nelson appreciates Van Gundy well beyond the 94 by 50 rectangle.
“I love Stan as a coach,” Nelson said. “Since he’s been here he’s helped my career. Helped tremendously. He’s a great person.”
Most of Van Gundy’s players like him because he puts them in positions to succeed and help the team win. The media likes Van Gundy because he is not afraid to voice his opinion and does so with a sarcastic wit that allows stories to write themselves.
But independent of basketball, we should all like Van Gundy because his verbal colander has bigger holes than most of the rest of us. He does not bite his tongue, speak disingenuously or couch his comments. He is honest and truthful and real. What you see is what you get, and that is why we should like him.
As Nelson said, he is a great person, someone you would want as a friend.
Compare Van Gundy to Howard, who has (a) spoken in circles about his personal demands; (b) insulted our intelligence with disingenuous statements or outright lies, such as the whopper where he said he really didn’t understand all of the circumstances of opting out; (c) changed his mind more frequently than a woman at a shoe sale, and expected everyone impacted to kind of just go with the flow; (d) repeatedly refused to answer when offered the chance to explain his convoluted thought process; and (e) used his considerable influence to put his sense of satisfaction before everyone else, with no regard for their well-being.
Is that a great person? Someone you want as a friend?
Van Gundy also rides his players, accentuates the negative more than the positive, whines a bit 
too much for one’s liking and is a generation older than all of his players and most NBA fans, so he comes off as a curmudgeon.
Howard wears Superman outfits, smiles and jokes a lot, and does silly impersonations. He even does one of Van Gundy, garnering cheap laughter at the expense of his boss. But Howard is 26, so he comes off as gregarious.
But the truth is that the all of the Magic’s issues this season can be directly attributed to Howard and the Ringling Bros. atmosphere he has created, while much of their success can be credited to Van Gundy, who works much harder at his job than Howard does at his and should be commended, not canned.
In the real world, prima donnas like Howard are sent packing, with good riddance.
In the NBA world, the petulant children are in charge.
TRIVIA: Deron Williams owns or shares the single-game highs this season for both points (57) and assists (20). Who is the only player in NBA history to do that in a single season? Answer below.
THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: Washington Wizards rookie forward Chris Singleton spent $10,000 on last week’s Mega Millions lottery drawing that had a top prize of $640 million, explaining that he otherwise would have been “blowing (the money) in the clubs.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins, after being told that Clippers forward Blake Griffin downplayed the physical nature of their recent matchup:
“That’s what Blake is going to say because he’s in LA, where actors belong. And he’s an actor.”
LINE OF THE WEEK: Andrew Bynum, LA Lakers at LA Clippers, April 4: 39 minutes, 13-20 FGs, 10-12 FTs, eight rebounds, four blocks, one steal, 36 points in a 113-108 win. Just when everyone was about to give up on Bynum due to recent immaturity issues, he stepped up in a huge game that could go a long way toward the Lakers securing the Pacific Division. And he did it on a bum ankle.
LINE OF THE WEAK: Jimmer Fredette, Sacramento vs. Phoenix, April 3: 13 minutes, 0-6 FGs, 0-5 3-pointers, one rebound, one assist, zero points in a 109-100 loss. It was the rookie’s seventh donut of the season and third against the Suns.
GAMES OF THE WEEK: New York at Milwaukee, April 11 and Phoenix at Houston, April 13. There are plenty of intriguing matchups, including several among the league’s elite. But none of those have as much as stake as these two contests, which should loom large in determining the final postseason berth in each conference. In the East, the Knicks have the upper hand in the standings, but the Bucks will have the tiebreaker if they win. In the West, the Suns are trying to make a late push against a very demanding schedule.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Charlotte at Cleveland, April 10. The Bobcats have lost 11 in a row. The Cavaliers have dropped nine of 10. And Kyrie Irving is sidelined. Yawn.
TRILLION WATCH: Two monstrous trillions were barely avoided as Orlando’s Chris Duhon had just an assist in 13 minutes on Sunday and New Jersey’s DeShawn Stevenson had just a turnover in 10 minutes on Tuesday. Stevenson had the week’s “best” effort with a 4 trillion Friday, well off Quincy Pondexter’s season-high 11 trillion.
TWO MINUTES: When the Bulls lost to Oklahoma City on Sunday and Houston on Monday, it preserved one of the longest-running trends in NBA history. No team has ever gone an entire season without losing consecutive games at least once. Even more astounding is that no team has ever gone 100 games over two seasons without dropping two in a row. Chicago had gone 86 games since Feb. 5-7, 2011, the second-longest streak ever. The longest belongs to the Utah Jazz, who went 95 games between consecutive losses from Nov. 18-20, 1997 to March 19-21, 1999. The streak ended with overtime road losses at Charlotte and Detroit. During the streak, however, Utah 
did lose three in a row to Chicago in the 1998 Finals. … Is there a bigger drop-off at any team’s position than New Jersey’s point guard, where Sundiata Gaines replaces Deron Williams? I can’t think of one, but if you can, put it in the comments section. … Clippers guard Randy Foye lit up the Mavericks on Monday for a franchise record-tying eight 3-pointers, and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t pleased. “I was waiting for somebody to knock (Foye) down, do something. We just didn’t do it,” Carlisle said. The coach took the blame for his team’s passive play, but that really is on the players, who just let Foye continue to run free and fire away. … Remember Tyreke Evans’ rookie 2009-10 season, when he was being compared – at least statistically – to Oscar Robertson and LeBron James? Virtually all of his numbers have been in decline as he has dealt with injuries and position changes over the last two seasons. The argument used to be whether Evans was better suited at point guard or shooting guard, but since rookie Isaiah Thomas was installed as Sacramento’s starting point on Feb. 19, Evans has been playing small forward. “I still put him in a position to be a playmaker,” Kings coach Keith Smart said. “He’s a small forward with point guard skills.” Evans has had some struggles with the new position but seems to be getting the hang of it. In 23 games since making the move, he is averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting a shade under 50 percent. “I’m trying to get used to it,” Evans said. “It’s up to me to be aggressive and to keep attacking. When I rebound, I just get a head start and just kind of open up things because they close the paint.” The bigger issues are on the defensive end, where the 6-6 Evans often finds himself overmatched against small forwards such as lengthy Kevin Durant and Shawn Marion and burly bulls Caron Butler and Metta World Peace. …In three games immediately after Kobe Bryant missed his first 15 shots and finished 3-of-21 from the field, the NBA scoring leader averaged 31.7 points on 62 percent shooting (39-of-63), including 8-of-14 from 3-point range. “It’s always interesting to me to hear people talk after a game like that,” Bryant said. “The amount of idiots that live out here after 16 years baffle me. I guess people just get dumber over the years.” … Since arriving in Miami, LeBron James has taken plenty of criticism – most of it justified – for his passive play down the stretch of games. That wasn’t the case in Tuesday’s win vs. Philadelphia, in which he scored 41 points, including 14 straight for the Heat in the final period. James’ disposition likely was impacted by the absence of the injured Dwyane Wade, who often shares the ball in crunch time. The Heat are 9-1 without Wade this season, and in those games, James has averaged 30.7 points – nearly 5 ppg higher than he does when Wade is playing. …Kevin McHale has been a player, coach, GM and analyst for more than 30 years. His Rockets are 20-8 at home and 9-17 on the road, and he admits he is boggled by the NBA’s home-court advantage, which is by far the most overwhelming of any of the four major pro sports. “I never understood that,” he said. “Baskets are 10 feet high and the court’s 94 feet. I’ve never seen a fan score a point yet.” McHale was a member of the 1985-86 Boston Celtics, who set a record by going 40-1 at home. … At the trading deadline, we said to keep an eye on Jordan Crawford, who basically was handed the Wizards’ starting shooting guard slot when Nick Young was dealt to the Clippers. In his first game after the trade, Crawford managed just six points. On Thursday, he had another stinker with nine points on 2-of-13 shooting. In 11 games in between, Crawford averaged 21.1 points on nearly 47 percent shooting. … It would have been easy to point to Oklahoma City’s home loss to Memphis on Monday as a trap game, coming between highly anticipated showdowns with Chicago (home win) and Miami (road loss). But the truth is the Grizzlies forced the Thunder to walk the ball up the floor all night and allowed just two fast-break points on a pair of free throws by Russell Westbrook with just 1:12 to play. … To all of the folks who lose it whenever Blake Griffin has another one of his posterizing dunks – like the one he had on Pau Gasol on Wednesday night – Chris Paul has some perspective for you. “It was exciting,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we lost. Who cares?”
Trivia Answer: Wilt Chamberlain had 68 points and 21 assists in separate games in the 1967-68 season. … Happy 72nd Birthday, John Havlicek. … When the Knicks visited Orlando this week, it must have been nice to be the second-most dysfunctional team in town.
Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Wednesday and Sunday. You can follow him on Twitter.
MIAMI – OK, he did it again.
LeBron James, the talented and tormented Miami Heat forward, declined to take a late-game shot Friday at Utah. He saw a double-team coming and passed to forward Udonis Haslem, who missed a jumper. The Heat lost, 99-98.
You’d be tempted to think it was the All-Star game all over again. It wasn’t. This wasn’t some made-for-TV pickup game. It was a regular-season game. It mattered. Now, the LeBron debate can continue.
“At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end, or me not taking a shot,” James said after the game. “But I know the chatter will begin.”
He’s right about that.
Let’s bottom-line this thing: LeBron is among the NBA’s top three players, but he’s not among the NBA’s top three closers.
I could even take things a step beyond that, which means saying LeBron doesn’t have the same late-game killer DNA as, say, in order, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Paul Pierce or Carmelo Anthony. They’re among the best in the league.
I’d put LeBron in the second group with (in no particular order) Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, maybe Chauncey Billups (maybe), and a few others. And that’s OK.
The point is, LeBron is definitely a top 10 closer in the NBA.
There’s no shame in that, except when you’re LeBron you’re supposed to be in that upper echelon in every glamour category.
Hey, James is still feared late in games. At least that’s what Pierce said.
“I think late-game,” Pierce said of James, “he is unstoppable.”
I asked Pierce about LeBron and his game-closing skills during All-Star weekend, two days before the meaningless All-Star game controversy and seven days before the more meaningful Utah Jazz ending.
Pierce said he couldn’t psychoanalyze James and know whether his late-game struggles are bothersome. But Pierce thinks the truth gets overshadowed because of James’ high-profile status.
“I know that I’ve seen him in late-game situations save his team with big shots,” Pierce said. “So I think a lot of that (gets) overblown because he is who he is, and he’s missed on some late-game situations. (It’s) because he’s one of the biggest stars in the game.”
Sometimes players have issues, or blind spots, or whatever you want to call it. Numerous all-time greats couldn’t hit free throws – Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal, to name a few. Numerous all-time greats couldn’t win a title – Karl Malone, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, you know that list.
They’re still elite. LeBron is still elite. He’ll still be remembered as one of the best small forwards to ever play the game.
Of course, LeBron is no Larry Bird, considered by many as the best small forward of all time. But LeBron is up there with Julius Erving, Elgin Baylor, Scottie Pippen and James Worthy. And in my book, LeBron is already ahead of John Havlicek, Rick Barry, Dominique Wilkins, Alex English, Adrian Dantley and that ilk of Hall of Famers.
So this missing late-game gene is all a matter of perspective. LeBron is money. He’s one of the all-time greats at his position.
Of course, it’d complete the fairy tale for LeBron to collect multiple titles, become a late-game assassin, and then be a success in his post-NBA life. But maybe things won’t happen that way. Maybe LeBron never wins a title. Maybe he never becomes a successful late-game assassin.
Now, the obvious problem with that scenario is the Heat needs LeBron to be a late-game asset. Wade can’t do it alone. Chris Bosh might not be enough help. The others – Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, etc… — are complementary guys. They might or might not hit that clutch shot. But that’s not their job.
Hitting that clutch shot is LeBron’s job. It’s why he was hired.
If LeBron doesn’t become a top-tier closer the Heat might not win a title. LeBron has to figure a way to get it done consistently late in games.
Pierce said a successful closer has certain qualities.
“I think you just have to have a certain type of attitude,” he said. “I think you have to have a willingness to want to be in those situations.”
I think LeBron has the desire. I don’t think he shies away from the moment.
At the same time it’s clear he doesn’t rise to the moment as well as Kobe, D-Wade, Pierce or ’Melo.
Disregard what you saw in the All-Star game. It’s not the real world. Criticism of LeBron for not shooting against Utah is legitimate. He made a good pass. Haslem just missed the shot. Then again, James had 35 points, 17 in the fourth quarter. He was hot.
Maybe we can all agree LeBron is a second-tier closer in the NBA — feared and respected, but not as feared or respected as some of his peers. The big question is whether the Heat can win a single title, let alone multiple titles, if James doesn’t eventually become a top-tier closer.
Chris Perkins is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com, covering the NBA and the Miami Heat. His columns regularly appear every Tuesday. Follow him on Twitter.
In the last week, Kobe Bryant became the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history and Paul Pierce surpassed Larry Bird and now trails only John Havlicek as the leading scorer in Celtics history.
Although each achievement was exceptional, such feats are not allowed to stand on their own. Not in sports. When records are set, there is a larger discussion – is that player the greatest of all-time in that sport or for that franchise? And if not, it is absolutely mandatory that we know exactly where he is ranked.
And we must hear from everybody.
A few years ago, I decided to approach it a different way and now seems a good time to update that exercise. A fun project for any franchise – but the Lakers and Celtics in particular – is to take the NBA awards structure and apply it to each team.
It is when you do that and compare it to other teams that you realize, again, how dominant the two franchises have been. The NBA has had 65 champions. Thirty-three of those titles have been won by the Celtics or Lakers. The reason is because they have had the best front office, best coaches and best players.
At the end of each season, the NBA names a first ,second and third team, and recognizes the most valuable player, best defensive player, coach, most improved, etc. So I’m going to apply that structure to the Celtics and Lakers and, of course, let the debate begin. Or continue.
I do feel compelled to point out to “NBA expert” Tim Legler that the Lakers were a franchise before they began playing in Los Angeles. That apparently escaped Legler last week when he was selecting his all-time top five Lakers from a list of 10 that did not include George Mikan, merely voted the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century by The Associated Press.
You cannot do a history of the Lakers without including the Minneapolis years (1948-1960). If you do, you eliminate five titles and instead of a 17-16 lead in titles by the Celtics, it becomes 17-11. And what Laker fan wants that?
The NBA officially includes the Minneapolis years in Lakers history. What Legler may not know is that the Lakers franchise originally started when a group of businessmen purchased the Detroit Gems franchise from the National Basketball League in 1947 and moved it to Minneapolis. Those Detroit years are not a part of NBA history because the league does not recognize the NBL history.
But the league does recognize Lakers history, just as it recognizes Pistons records from Fort Wayne, Golden State records from Philadelphia, 76ers records from Syracuse and Kings records from Kansas City, Omaha, Cincinnati and Rochester.
And the league has the right to determine its official history. Legler does not.
OK. I’ll relax. Got that out of the way.
So now, we attack the project and here’s how deep the franchises are: Wilt Chamberlain is not on the all-franchise first, second or third team for the Lakers.
And yes, you hear rumblings from the grave.
But the facts are: Wilt came to the Lakers at age 32 and played five seasons. In four of those years, he had the lowest scoring averages of his 15-year career and in the fifth year, he played only 12 games because of injury.
And even though he led the NBA in rebounds four times during that five-year span, the 419 total games he played was less than the top three Lakers centers.
But please, no Wilt hate mail. He is one of my five favorite players in NBA history. I met him and talked to him. I can make a case for him being the greatest center ever. But in Laker lore, he has tough competition.
The criteria used for these all-time Lakers and Celtics teams is the same used by the NBA in voting for annual awards. Three teams of five players each are selected, and positions cannot be changed. Each team consists of two forwards, two guards and a center.
The ballot, please:
ALL-TIME LAKERS TEAM
First team
C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1975-89)
F: Elgin Baylor (1958-72)
F: James Worthy (1982-94)
G: Magic Johnson (1979-91, 1995)
G: Kobe Bryant (1996-present)
Comment: OK, everyone obsesses about whether Kobe is better than or equal to Michael Jordan. Forget that. Here is the pertinent point. He’s better than Jerry West. No doubt. The logo. Unbelievable greatness. Is that good enough?
Second team
C: Shaquille O’Neal (1996-2004)
F: Jamaal Wilkes (1977-85)
F: Vern Mikkelsen (1949-59)
G: Jerry West (1960-74)
G: Gail Goodrich (1965-68, 1970-76)
Comment: Shaq was the most dominant player of his generation and was the key player on three Lakers championship teams.
Third team
C: George Mikan (1947-56)
F: Jim Pollard (1948-55)
F: Michael Cooper (1978-90)
G: Slater Martin (1949-56)
G: Byron Scott (1983-93, 1996)
Comment: Mikan led the Lakers to five titles in a six-year stretch but, realistically, he wasn’t as physically dominant as Shaq. And Shaq played against much better competition. The 6-4 Pollard, by the way, is reputedly the first guy to have dunked from the foul line, although he did it in practice. (Tim, look it up).
Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson
Abdul-Jabbar arrived four years before Magic was drafted and during that span, the Lakers never made the Finals and, in fact, lost once in the first round and did not even make the playoffs one year. In Magic’s first season, the Lakers of that era won their first of five titles. Kareem and Kobe Bryant are runners up.
Greatest Coach: Phil Jackson and Pat Riley (tie)
OK, Phil has the lead in titles five to four, but he never had to get past Bird, McHale, etc. Riley built the original Showtime franchise and Phil’s triangle was a work of art. Jackson probably deserves a slight edge, but I think of both coaches equally.
Greatest Rookie: Magic Johnson
Remember Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals? Abdul-Jabbar nursing an injured ankle in Los Angeles, Magic moving to center, then going out and scoring 42 points with 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals? Maybe the greatest single game performance in NBA Finals history, and it came from a 20-year-old rookie.
Greatest Defensive Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
If the general public overlooked this part of his game, the competition did not. Blocked shots were not an official NBA stat until Abdul-Jabbar’s fifth year in the league, and he still ranks third in NBA history. At his peak, Abdul-Jabbar was a shutdown defender in the paint.
Most Improved Player: Kobe Bryant
Bryant entered the league as a skinny 17-year-old high school player with tantalizing potential. Credit Jerry West for trading a first-class center in Vlade Divac to Charlotte for Bryant – the 13th pick in the draft. His development was quick, steady and spectacular and many of us believe he still is the best player in the league.
Sixth Man Award: Michael Cooper
Remember those epic struggles with Larry Bird? A case could be made for Cooper as the best defensive player, but since he started only 94 of 873 career games, he fits perfectly here. He is one of the few players who came off the bench and made a difference in a game because of his defense.
ALL-TIME CELTICS
First team
C: Bill Russell (1956-69)
F: Larry Bird (1979-92)
F: Kevin McHale (1980-93)
G: Bob Cousy (1950-63)
G: Sam Jones (1957-69)
Comment: Russell obviously made a lot of good players great and great players better. But no one should forget that Sam Jones has 10 rings, one less that Russell. Colleague Chris Bernucca touched upon the Jones vs. Paul Pierce debate in his Sunday column. Jones was to Russell what Scottie Pippen was to Michael.
Second team
C: Dave Cowens (1970-80)
F: John Havlicek (1962-78)
F: Paul Pierce (1998-present)
G: Dennis Johnson (1983-90)
G: Bill Sharman (1951-61)
Comment: Highest compliment I can pay Paul Pierce. He’s a second team forward with John Havlicek.
Third team
C: Robert Parish (1980-94)
F: Tom Heinsohn (1956-65)
F: Tom “Satch” Sanders (1960-73)
G: Jo Jo White (1969-79)
G: Frank Ramsey (1954-64)
Comment: Hall of Famer Satch Sanders was Michael Cooper before Michael Cooper. And it should be noted that Kevin Garnett is at least in the discussion for third team, but he’s been in Boston only five years.
Most Valuable Player: Bill Russell
He played 13 years, and 11 of those ended with him winning a championship. His last championship team roster was completely different than his first. He is simply the greatest winner in NBA history.
Greatest Coach: Red Auerbach
He not only was a great coach, he also was perhaps the greatest executive in league history. He acquired Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, among others, with brilliant personnel moves. As the head coach, he won eight consecutive championships.
Greatest Defensive Player:
Bill Russell
He dominated with his athleticism and was the most efficient shot blocker in history. Rather than swatting shots into the third row of seats, he would block it towards a teammate, which often resulted in an easy fast break.
Greatest Rookie: Larry Bird
In 1978-79, the Celtics were 29-53. The next year, the rookie Bird led Boston to a record of 61-21. And that was the year before Kevin McHale and Robert Parish arrived. The 32-game turnaround was solely because of Bird.
Most Improved Player: Don Nelson
A third-round pick by the Chicago Zephyrs in 1962, Nelson was traded to the Lakers and played two years in L.A. before being waived. Boston signed him and he went on to play 11 years and was on five championship teams.
Sixth Man Award: Frank Ramsey
It only makes sense to give this to the original sixth man. Auerbach decided he needed a boost off the bench and Ramsey was the first player in history to do that. He did it so well that he made the Hall of Fame.
Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years in between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.
Is Paul Pierce part of the Boston Celtics’ all-time team?
On Tuesday, Pierce passed Larry Bird on the team’s career scoring list, moving into second place for the most historic franchise in the NBA. He is creeping up on 22,000 career points and still going strong.
Pierce has a ways to go to catch Celtics all-time leader John Havlicek, whose total of 26,395 is even more remarkable when you consider he began his career as a sixth man. If Pierce passes Havlicek – at his current average of 18 points per game, he would need roughly three full seasons to do so – he definitely crashes the top five.
“I think the fans would really appreciate another championship more than me passing Hondo,” Pierce said.
But what if he doesn’t do either? What if Pierce retires or moves on with one title while still second on the list? Is that good enough to become the fifth face on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore?
Four spots are pretty much etched in stone – Bird, Havlicek, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, all among the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players.
Bird won three titles, played in three other Finals, claimed three MVP awards and two Finals MVP awards. Havlicek won eight titles, with six of them coming before the installation of Finals MVP, which he won in 1974.
Russell won 11 titles, played in one other Finals, earned five MVP awards and has the Finals MVP named after him. Cousy won six titles, played in one other Finals, was the MVP in 1957 and played well before Finals MVPs were handed out.
Pierce? His 10 All-Star berths compare favorably, and he does have a Finals MVP. But the argument against him is that he has not won nearly as much as the “Fab Four.” Pierce played in just one other Finals, and in his 13 full seasons, the Celtics missed the playoffs five times and are less than 80 games over .500.
The Celtic most consider to be ahead of Pierce is Kevin McHale, another member of the 50 Greatest Players who played alongside Bird and has the same number of titles and Finals trips. But he never won a Finals MVP. I’m sure there are some folks out there also campaigning for Sam Jones.
As the only modern-day player under consideration, Pierce is at a disadvantage. The NBA is three times bigger – and much better – than when Russell, Cousy and Havlicek dominated. Free agency and finances are far more impactful than during Bird’s day. And championships are much harder to win.
So does Pierce make the cut? We agree with Bird.
“He had some great years in Boston — a few when the team was down, and maybe that hurt him a little bit,” Bird told the Boston Herald. “But he’s a great scorer, and he won a championship, so he’s right there with the rest of us, as far as I’m concerned.”
We are interested in what our readers think, so feel free to comment below – after you read about the week that was in the NBA.
TRIVIA: Kevin Love is currently fourth in scoring and second in rebounding. Who was the last player to finish in the top five in both categories? Answer below.
THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were on Forbes Magazine‘s list of the 10 most disliked athletes. Last April, James and Bryant were 1-2 in jersey sales announced by the NBA.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks, after his team overcame a huge game by Monta Ellis to win at Golden State:
“Our goal going into the game is to hold Monta Ellis to 50 and he only had 48, so we accomplished two things.”
LINE OF THE WEEK: Stephen Curry, Golden State at Denver, Feb. 9: 36 minutes, 13-17 FGs, 6-9 3-pointers, 4-7 FTs, seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, one turnover, 36 points in a 109-101 win. After one of his many makes, Curry did an impersonation of the “shimmy shake” Warriors coach Mark Jackson popularized as a player. “We had joked about it earlier that it was his signature move. I haven’t practiced it but I’m scared to look at the film. That was the first time and probably the last time.”
LINE OF THE WEAK: Raymond Felton, Portland at Dallas, Feb. 11: 39 minutes, 4-17 FGs, 1-6 3-pointers, 0-1 FTs, two rebounds, two assists, three turnovers, nine points in a 97-94 double-overtime loss. Not quite the direction you want from your point guard in a tough road game.
TRILLION WATCH: Kind of a ho-hum week, with Jerry Stackhouse’s 4 trillion on Monday the “best” effort. Lakers small forwards Devin Ebanks (9 trillion) and Jason Kapono (8 and 7 trillion) remain the season leaders as we approach the midway point.
GAME OF THE WEEK: LA Clippers at Dallas, Feb. 13. It is the last stop on a six-game road trip for the Clippers, who already have won at Orlando and Philadelphia and will be looking to take out the defending champs for the second time this season.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Charlotte at Toronto, Feb. 17. This actually might have some intrigue as the Bobcats figure to be up to 16 straight losses when they arrive north of the border to face the Raptors, who already have lost twice to the Wizards.
TWO MINUTES: Violet Palmer has worked hard to become a quality referee who is retained once the playoffs begin, but her actions in Philadelphia on Wednesday were inexcusable. Apparently tired of the chirping from the Sixers bench about Spurs guard Tony Parker possibly dragging his pivot foot when coming to a stop and looking to pass, Palmer made a ridiculous call, whistling Evan Turner for a handcheck when Parker backed against his hand while the players were 40 feet from the basket. It was vindictive and petty. … It is a little difficult to get your mind around Jason Richardson’s performance Saturday in Milwaukee, where he made 9-of-11 3-pointers – including four in less than three minutes – but also shot 0-of-4 from the line. … Thursday’s unveiling of All-Star reserves left more than a few players feeling left out. The Pacers saw center Roy Hibbert selected but forward Danny Granger and guard Darren Collison passed over. However, it was not for a lack of electioneering by the coaching staff. “We’ve sent e-mails out and make phone calls and we definitely want the coaches around the league to understand the sacrifices our guys have made to buy into the team approach and how it’s led to winning,” said Pacers coach Frank Vogel, whose surprising team is jockeying for a top-four seed in the East without a true superstar. “And particularly the things we’ve done on the defensive end. I don’t want that to go unnoticed.” … Detroit’s Ben Wallace shot his first two free throws of the season Friday. He missed them both. … In 19 games since Jan. 10, Suns center Marcin Gortat is averaging 16.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. That hot streak has pushed his season numbers to career highs of 15.2 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks and allowed him to join Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum and Marc Gasol as the only players posting 15-10-1.5 this season. You don’t think of Gortat as an elite center, but that is elite company. … There have been literally hundreds of Jeremy Lin stories this week, and our Moke Hamilton had a pretty good take. But our favorite was this one: While the Harvard grad was lighting up the Wizards for 23 points and 10 assists Wednesday, Washington coach Randy Wittman received a text from his son, Ryan, who faced Lin during his days as a player at Cornell. “He told me that they did a much better job guarding him than we did tonight,” the elder Wittman said. “I already had that text message before the game was over. Makes Dad feel good.” … The Bobcats have had very little to smile about this season, but forward Derrick Brown made all 10 of his floor shots in Tuesday’s loss at Boston. In case you were wondering, the record is held by – who else? – Wilt Chamberlain, who was 18-of-18 vs. Baltimore on Feb. 24, 1967. … It didn’t take Kenyon Martin very long to re-introduce himself to the NBA. After getting out his contract in China, Martin was signed by the Clippers and made his debut Wednesday at Cleveland, where he shoved Cavs forward Samardo Samuels to the floor and was hit with a technical foul. “First game back and I get (fined) $1,000,” Martin said. “That’s who I am. I can’t turn it off.” … The Rockets won three straight games on the road this week, and their bench was a big reason, accounting for 55 percent of their offense with 165 points. In those three games, Houston received 11 different double-digit scoring efforts from its reserves, including five in Thursday’s win at Phoenix, matching the most in franchise history. … The league-leading Thunder will need a fourth scorer come playoff time, and it certainly won’t be Nick Collison. When Collison took – and made – two shots in Friday’s win at Utah, it doubled the number of shots he had put up in the previous five games. … Heat forward Shane Battier has struggled mightily on the offensive end this season with career lows of 4.1 points and 35 percent shooting and recently noted, “The great Hubie Brown said, ‘Know when to pass, know when to shoot,’ and I’m finding a way to mess even that up.” At Washington on Friday, Battier finally broke out a bit, scoring a season-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. “We never panicked about him,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He does so many things as a player that we like. He does all of the little things that help us as a team. It was great to see the ball go in for him and take a little bit of the weight off his shoulders.” … In the early 1990s, the Pistons became the first NBA team to completely move away from chartered flights with their own plane, dubbing it “Roundball One.” That aircraft served the team until 1997, when it switched to a DC-9 that it used from 1998 to 2010. At the start of last season, the Pistons starting using an MD-20 as the third generation of “Roundball One” and donated their second plane to the Northland Community & Technical College Foundation in support of the school’s highly regarded aerospace program in Minnesota. In addition to flying the Pistons to and from NBA cities for 12 years, the donated plane also made hurricane relief effort missions to Central America in 1998 and New Orleans in 2005.
Trivia Answer: Kevin Garnett in 2003-04. … Happy 53rd Birthday, Larry Nance. … There’s no truth to the rumor that Duke is trying to schedule the Bobcats as one of their non-conference games next season.
Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Thursday and Sunday. You can follow him on Twitter.
