We’re still a few weeks from the start of training camp. The start of the NFL season has done enough to hold us over until then but that doesn’t make me any less excited and antsy for players to report to training camp.
Not much of anything has happened in the NBA of late. Ricky Rubio’s situation got resolved. Ramon Sessions got more print in the last few months than he’ll get over the duration of his four-year contract he signed with Minnesota, Allen Iverson signed with the Memphis Grizzlies until he gets bought out in March and signs on with a contender (I’m betting Boston).
There.
You’re officially caught up.
Without further ado, here are today’s Uncontested Shots, or should I say, things I was thinking about while wondering how many more celebrities will die before the end of the year.
Feeling the Economic Heat in Miami
Ira Winderman has an interesting article in today’s South Florida Sun Sentinel about the Miami Heat asking Pat Riley and members of their coaching staff, including head coach Eric Spoelstra, to take a pay cut for this upcoming season.
You know things are bad financially when your team is desperate to shed coaches salaries. It makes you wonder how a team that finished 18th in attendance percentage last year (yet fifth on the road) will be able to attract big name free agents despite being in such a large media market.
It’s not that Miami isn’t a great place for players to live. But where’s the assurance that the team will be able to remain competitive if the team under-performs and starts losing millions of dollars again? Is owner, Micky Arison willing to continue hemorrhaging money for a team that will never be the most popular team in town?
The only question left to be answered then is whether Spoelstra will get the money he’s giving up when Riley fires him next year and takes over the team? I guess we’ll never know since Spoelstra will tell us he wants to spend more time with his family and he’ll be forced to keep his mouth shut if he wants to get the rest of his money.
Even though Riley is also taking a pay cut I can’t imagine it will affect him that greatly since he’s part owner of the team. If Arison ever decides to sell the team or Riley decides to sell his interest he’ll more than compensate for the six-figure amount he’s reportedly losing next season.
Speaking of Winderman, the guy deserves a lot of credit for his hard work over the off-season. He’s done an admirable job of coming up with stuff to write about despite the fact that the Heat have done nothing this off-season outside of trading for Quentin Richardson.
The Heat kicked the tires on a couple of free agents this off-season like Lamar Odom and Allen Iverson but it didn’t seem like they were really serious about either of them. They reminded me of a dad that tells his kids that they were going to stay at the cool hotel with the water slide but they were “sold out” so instead they have to stay at the Comfort Inn.
I get what the Heat are doing. I know that they’ll have bigger fish to fry next summer. The problem is that all four teams that finished above them in the Eastern Conference last season got better, as did Washington, Toronto, Charlotte, Indiana, and possibly Chicago.
If the Heat get swept in the first-round or, even worse, miss the playoffs, it’s going to be hard for them to not only go after top-tier free agents, but it will also be difficult to convince Dwyane Wade that the first half of his prime won’t be dedicated to continuing to rebuild—especially when you consider that his mother and his kids live in Chicago and the Bulls can make a substantial offer if they choose to renounce Tyrus Thomas.
I’m going to go ahead an debut what I’ll call the Wade/Heat Index. On a scale of 1-10, I’d say that it’s a six that Wade stays in Miami after this season. This is just my opinion so take it for what that’s worth. I just feel that the only things that Miami has in it’s favor right now are quality of life and non-basketball related.
Greg Ostertag Wants Back In
The Lawrence Journal is reporting that 36-year-old Greg Ostertag is trying to make a comeback and that the Portland Trailblazers have expressed interest.
I have a hard time believing that any team will take a chance on Ostertag, who admits he hasn’t picked up a basketball in years. Frankly, I don’t think any team would express interest in Ostertag if he was 32 and hadn’t picked up a ball in three minutes.
I seriously doubt that teams would be intimidated by the Greg OdenTag combo at center, especially when Ostertag’s best statistical season was in 1996-97.
While Ostertag has been a punching bag ever since he came into the league (both literally and figuratively, right Shaq?), he does deserve credit for donating a kidney to his sister, Amy, back in 2002.
Pioneer Day
Props to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! for his story on the lack of knowledge today’s players have regarding the history of the NBA, especially that of Earl Lloyd, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, and Chuck Cooper—the first three black players to break the color barrier 59 years ago.
I’ve always believed that the history of integration in basketball seemed like a chapter from The Big Book of Sports that somebody tore out so we have to rely on others to tell us.
I’ve been trying to turn John Christgau’s Tricksters in the Madhouse into a movie project for the last few years. It’s the true story of a game in 1948 between the Harlem Globetrotters and Minneapolis that led to integration.
There’s a great book and documentary called The Harlem Globetrotters: That Team That Changed The World that’s also worth checking out. There’s also a movie in production about Sweetwater.
Perhaps I’ll have an easier chance of getting the movie made once the stink from historical sports movies like The Greatest Game Ever Played, The Game Of Their Lives, and Glory Road finally wears off.
MJ’s Speech
J.A. Adande has an interesting take on ESPN.com about the speech Michael Jordan gave during his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Adande argues that Jordan should get a pass because he was honest and spoke from the heart.
I see where Adande is coming from. We all know the story about MJ telling reporters that he doesn’t talk publicly about politics because Republicans buy sneakers too. MJ was always criticized for never taking a stand on any issue and using his fame with which to promote a cause.
For the first time we actually got “unscripted” MJ and everybody is quick to bash him for being too honest.
While I don’t think that MJ chose the right avenue with which to speak from it’s his party and he cry if he wants to.
It’s interesting to compare Adande’s take to that of Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojanarowski. Even if you disagree with Woj’s take that Jordan was classless and petty, it’s really an outstanding piece of writing and you should check it out.
Uncontested Shots will debut every Tuesday and Friday from now until at least the start of the season. For up to the minute updates on all free agent happenings and random brilliant thoughts and observations follow Andrew Ungvari on Twitter.