My TwO FaV LaKer MoMents

RoC BoY To BK

"The Roc boys are in the building tonight", the Jay-Z lead single to his 2007 'American Gangster' album became the staple of every sports team celebration and even more exclusively to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two slaps and the salute from the music video surfaced into every arena where Lebron played. The ultimate hustler Jay-Z and the ultimate hustler on the basketball court Lebron James have more in common than just the balling and rhyming but also the love for the city of Brooklyn. Although James along with another 'Roc boy' Kanye West were not available for the video shoot of the Jiggaman's hit song, Lebron may be 'inked' to Mr. Carter for a long time starting in 2010. The rumors of James being the face of the new 'Brooklyn Nets' are starting to look more and more like a reality.


If you ask any NBA player or even better yet any athlete, who receives the most plays in your 'I-Pod'?, more than likely you will get an answer of Jay-Z or another Brooklyn great the late Notorious B.I.G. So there is no coincidence that Lebron, who wants to be the first billionaire athlete is close friends with Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, whose worth just over a 'measly' 600 million dollars. Just a year after unanimously winning the rookie of the year for the 2003-2004 NBA season, Lebron's close friend signed on to become a minority of interest,holding a strong share in the New Jersey Nets franchise. Along with lead developer Bruce Ratner, Mr.Carter and the other shareholders, the team plans on moving the franchise with very limited history to the reinvented city of Brooklyn.


There is no question Brooklyn is slowly becoming a great city again, from the million dollar Brownstone homes, Caucasian people calling Brooklyn home, and even MTV using the city as the location for the next 'Real World' season. With the city on the rise again, the inevitable questions follow right behind, Will Lebron leave his hometown for the city of Brooklyn? or even more office cooler worthy, What kind of impact will he have?.


The transition into becoming a great city again has not reached all areas of Brooklyn such as, Brownsville, East New York, and Cypress Hills with the consistent crime, prostitution and heavy drug trafficking daily. If Lebron opts out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavailers in the summer of 2010, his hero like image may help suppress the problems in those areas. In 2010 James will only be 26 and he can provide all the troubled and lost teenagers in the streets of Brooklyn a sense of hope and a heroic type figure to look up to. Instead of the numerous gangs such as the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings being separated by colors of red, blue and yellow, they can all share a common love with every purchase of a James number 23 jersey. 'King James' wont become the next Ghandi or MLK just by signing a contract to run the city of Brooklyn, but he will be the second young black man these neglected teenagers can look up and relate to, the first being his close friend and potential boss Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter.


Last week marked the first major move towards the dethroning of the 'King' of Cleveland and re-naming him the 'King' of Brooklyn, when the Nets traded small forward Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks for second year player Yi Jianlian and 'Mr. Expiring' contract Bobby Simmons. The move cleared nearly 15 million dollars for King James to come through and devour and use to further his future marketing plans. Combined with a young guard in Devin Harris and rookie big man Brook Lopez, Lebron will have a young nucleus to create magic with in a very weak Eastern Conference.


Brooklyn is still dominated by mostly African-Americans, and having Lebron and Shawn Carter as the faces of the future can only boost the confidence of any young athlete or rapper in high school unsure about his or her future. 2010 can also possibly mark the second year in which potential president Barack Obama will be in office, making every teenagers dreams seem like more like a reality and less like a fantasy or false hope. Even though every NBA player in the leagues ultimate goal is to win a championship,helping kids off the street and into the classroom or simply into the arena to support them will be enough compensation for now.


The 'Brooklyn Nets' with Lebron as the leader can be the best thing to happen to the league since the introduction of the three point line, simply because of the rivalry that can reach new heights with the city of New York being separated between the storied franchise in the Knicks and the team looking to make its own history in the Nets. Can you just imagine the opening day of the arena with James being the superstar guard, and the then 40 year old Jay-Z performing at halftime giving back to the city of Brooklyn. The possibilities are endless but the only problem is its just a possibility.

B-DiDDy Runs The CiTy

Today marks the first day in which negotiations between NBA teams and the current free agents looking to call a new city home for the next few years begins. Although verbal agreements occur during this week, no deal can be made official until July 9th in which teams can sign the free agents. Of the current free agent pool Baron Davis maybe stirring up the most noise with his decision to opt out his current contract with the Golden State Warriors and take on the bidders willing to pay max dollars for his services.

According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, NBA front offices have confirmed Davis has reached a verbal agreement with the Los Angeles Clippers in a five year deal worth just over 65 million dollars. Still only 29, the versatile point guard will add the swagger, toughness and decision making the Clippers so vitally needs. The possible acquisition of Davis, may also convince current power forward Elton Brand to re-sign with the Clippers to make a push for the playoffs in the very competitive Western Conference. There was no secret Davis had his eyes on the 'City of Angels', from his college days at UCLA to his recent acceptance into the entertainment world with his close friendship with Adam Sandler.

This past season Baron played all 82 games for just the third time in his career averaging 21.8 points, 7.6 assist and 4.7 rebounds per game. His night in and night out efforts contributed to his team winning 48 games, the most by a non-playoff team in NBA history. Davis is still considered one of the top 8 point guards in the league even with injuries and off and on relationships with his coaching staff. Even though he has been in California for the past 3 seasons, his dreams of being back in Los Angles are finally a reality. He can easily go from making acrobatic lay-ups in the lane, to finishing the final details on a movie deal with his business partner Cash Warren with enough time to be a loving uncle to the rap superstar 'The Game's' son 'Harlem'. If Baron finishes his career in Los Angeles as a Clipper, his jersey may not be retired but he will definitely have a star on the walk of fame on Hollywood Boulevard.

Distractions!!

Honestly speaking, I have no excuse for not updating my blog lately with all the current news going on in sports, particularly Basketball. From the Celtics finally bringing a title back to city of Boston after a 22 year hiatus at the top, or the Shaq 'freestyle' in which he fired shots at his former teammate Kobe Bryant, and also the resurgence of the U.S.A Mens Basketball team as a dominate force in the 2008 Olympics. So from this day forward I vow to update my blog daily with all the current news in Basketball and everything in between worth the read.

BreathTaking

One Of A Kind

"Is it the shoes?, is it the shoes?,is it the shoes?", those famous words from the Nike character played by Spike Lee, 'Mars Blackmon' can still be heard today coming from the mouths of avid Michael Jordan fans both young and old. The impact MJ has on the game of basketball and even sports in general is extremely undeniable. Many great players before him may have more accomplishments on the court such as championships, Bill Russell, but his pop culture influence is what set him apart from the rest. Even the most avid New York Knicks fan who goes to sleep in a Walt 'Clyde' Fraizer jersey every other night would find it 'cool' to be MJ. The lanky 6'6 shooting guard with funky basketball shoes graced the covers of every magazine and newspaper article in the late 80's and the media coverage of MJ just blossomed into the 90's. Year after year Jordan fans would wait to see what new pair of shoes MJ would reveal during all star weekend. His impact reached new heights when the Air Jordan 4 was referenced in the critically acclaimed movie "Do The Right Thing", when one of the antagonist of the movie scuffed a pair of another character's brand new pair of Air Jordan sneakers. Twenty three pairs and years later his name will always be tied to the next up and coming swingman with the ability to jump out the gym.

According to Jay-Z's 2003 'Pump it Up' freestyle, Harold Miner was evidently not the right choice to be tagged with the 'Baby Jordan' title. In 1996, the NBA draft was filled with plenty of future all stars worthy of the 'Baby Jordan' title such as Allen Iverson and Ray Allen, but only one had the potential to live up to the legendary guard.'Kobe Bryant'. The seventeen year old shooting guard was drafted 13th overall to the a city where happy endings are written daily and sold daily, 'Los Angeles'. Paired with Shaquille O'neal for the early years of his career the duo went onto to win 3 consecutive championships, leaving Bryant with a void early in his career. The void can only be fulfilled by winning a championship with out the help of a future hall of fame center.

With the departure of Shaq at the end of the 2003-2004 season, the 25 year old Bryant was left to attempt the impossible in becoming the next generations MJ. In his first season experiment in becoming Michael, the Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time in almost 10 years, not exactly Jordan like. The 2005-2006 season marked the beginning of his second attempt to fill the 'void'. As a whole the team had an 11 game improvement from the previous year but was still knocked out of the playoffs by Pacific Division rival, Phoenix Suns. This season also marked a few more glimpses of his Jordan like comparisons with an 81 point performance against the Toronto Raptors. In 2007, Byrant was selected to his 9th consecutive all star appearance and his second All Star Game MVP,but was once again departed from the playoff via phoenix Suns in the first round.

On May 30th 2007, just a few days removed from a year ago, Bryant confirmed he wanted to be traded from the Lakers on the Stephen A. Smith radio show, expressing his anger with the Lakers management and timid strides towards a championship. Just three hours after creating shock waves throughout the sporting news world, Bryant went on to explain his re-consideration to stay with the team after a healthy conversation with Coach Phil Jackson. Bryant's decision to stay with the team may have put him right back into the driver seat towards his Jordan like career. Only two months into the regular season, Kobe went on to become the youngest player to ever reach 20,000 career points, which was just one of his few accomplishments this season. Kobe also went onto to start in his 10th consecutive all star, and was named the leagues MVP. Currently Kobe and his fellow teammates are set to play the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals for his first championship without Shaq.

Even if Kobe goes on to win his fourth title, his career will never reach the peak left by Michael Jordan because of his lack of personality off the court. Kids in the playground will never scream out Kobe's name as they attempt to make the game winning shot. The jersey number '24' will never be recognized internationally as the greatest number for a basketball player. His sneakers will never make grown men wait on line to get a pair. His sneaker will never be the reason a young man is in heaven due to violence. Most of all, Kobe wll never reach the peak of MJ's greatness because he simply doesn't want to.

92' Dream Team

The 1992 United States Of America olympic basketball team is arguably the greatest sports team in the history of team sports. Unlike the previous olympic teams, the appeal and amazing charisma displayed on the court was secondary to the mass appeal and acknowledgment the team received off the court. The team was headline by 3 all time greats of the game, Michael Jordan, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, and Larry Bird. Along with 8 members of the NBA's greatest players; Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler and college basketball best player; Christian Laettner, the equation resulted in total domination.

The 'Dream Team' served as more than just a dominant team, but also the bridge that helped introduce the world outside of the U.S to the game of basketball. Although the margin of victories was an astonishing 44 point average, some opponents would try to capture the moments of defending Jordan, Bird and Magic on camera through fanatic fans. The team went on to capture the gold by beating all 8 opponents with the final game being the closest with an easy 32 point victory.

Off the court, 'The Dream Team' sent the city of Barcelona into pandemonium similar to the Beatles in the 60's. USA Coach Chuck Daly described the pandemonium as "Traveling with the 'Dream Team' was like traveling with 12 rock stars, thats the only thing i can compare it to". Simple moments such eating at the local city resturant to making appearances at the other events during the olympics were captured. Paparazzi Queen, Lindsey Lohan would be jealous with the amount of coverage the 'Dream Team' received. In true celebrity form the team stayed in a high class hotel, along with police escorted arrivals to the game site and media coverage during simple walk through practices.

This summer the 2008 Olympic Basketball team headline by Kobe Bryant and Lebron James will attempt to replicate the greatness of the greatest team ever assembled. Although players 1-12 are not on the same level as the 92' team, the coverage may help build an argument in their favor, from their political stance on the upcoming election to the relief efforts in China. Only time will tell if 2008 USA mens basketball team will be known as the resurgence of the 'Dream Team'.