It wasn’t all over ESPN and the casual NBA fan probably missed the news on the ole’ ticker last week, but Adonal Foyle retired from the game of basketball. It’s not much of a surprise, he’s only played in 10 games in the last two years (thanks to injuries), actually missing all of last season.
All in all, it was a solid 13-year career for the big man from the Carribean. He leaves the game as the Golden State Warriors’ all-time leading shot-blocker, along with finishing as one of their top rebounders. Foyle spent 10 of his 13 seasons with the Warriors, also making a very brief stop with the Memphis Grizzlies and a few seasons with the Orlando Magic.
Foyle was more than just a 6-foot-10 shot-blocking machine — he is a gentleman — straight up. There is no other way to put it. He has to be one of the most likable and interesting players in the game — that is if you know about him. Foyle is an intellect, far beyond the stereotype of NBA players. He reviews books for HOOP Magazine, writes poetry and is one of the league’s biggest humanitarians.
In addition to all of that, Foyle was also a Vice President of the league’s players’ association and is finishing up his masters degree in sports psychology, he even wrote a poem about his NBA journey. This most definitely isn’t the last we’ll be hearing of Foyle — I have a feeling he’ll be involved with the league for years to come — it’s definitely safe to say that there’s only one Adonal Foyle.
Here’s a great interview that he recently did with the Golden State Warriors, it’s a must watch — you need to know more about Foyle, his story was slept on by mass media.
Over the past two years, we’ve seen LeBron James go out of his way to make his upcoming free agency a spectacle. While the Lakers and Celtics were prepping to battle during this month’s NBA Finals, James went out and did an interview with Larry King to promote his free agency and talk about how he’s the “ring leader” of the 2010 free agent class — without any rings, of course.
In less than 24 hours, all of James’ dreams of individual praise and being wooed by cities and their teams will come true.
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Meanwhile, in Washington yesterday, the most selfless athlete of all-time was buried and laid to his final rest — Manute Bol.
Bol was the opposite of James, the opposite of the stereotype people give to athletes. Bol used his fame for change, not glory — and for many NBA players, he served as a prime example of how one should handle themselves when they are given a chance to play a game for money — lots of money. Don’t be fooled, there are plenty of athletes that aren’t trying to hold “free agent summits.” There are plenty of athletes that have never tried to put the focus on themselves — rather straying away from the spotlight, there are quite a few actually — but none were like Bol.
I finally beat the NBA before their official announcement, well, I’m still writing this, so by the time I post it, who knows? This is the first time that I can remember there being three legitimate candidates for the Rookie of the Year Award. There were some really good rookies during the year 2009-10, but obviously it comes down to three players: Stephen Curry, Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans.
After two weeks of action, it looked as if Jennings would win this thing hands down. He had me completely under the belief that my Evans pick would be incorrect. Then shortly after, it look like Evans was going toe for toe with Jennings. Keep in mind at the very start of the season, the Kings were playing good basketball and Jennings was tearing it up.
As the season went on, Jennings started to lose steam. Jennings went from averaging 22 points in November, to 16 points in December, 14 in January and all the way down to 10 points per game in February. It was a dramatic drop — granted his assist numbers and the Bucks’ winning stayed steady. His shooting percentage in the month of February was a miserable 30 percent.
Then came Curry. He was solid the first few months, but after the All-Star break, the kid took over. In the first 51 games of the season, Curry averaged 15 points, five assists and four rebounds per game. In those final 29 games after the break, Curry put in 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds each night — including a ton of threes, two steals a games and a 47 percent shooting clip. Curry was ridiculous.
Meanwhile, Evans was steady throughout the course of the season and after the Kevin Martin trade, his numbers jumped — but they never took the dip like Jennings’ or started slow like Curry’s. Evans averaged 20 points, five rebounds and six assists per game, but his Kings only won 25 games.
When Monta Ellis fouled out of Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers, he had a career-high 45 points, and there was more than six minutes left in the game.
The Warriors were down by 15 points at one point and Ellis put them on his back — scoring 13 points in the third quarter and netting the first seven points of the fourth quarter — before a charging call took him out of the game.
He was on fire, he couldn’t be stopped.
Already peaking at his career-high with half of a quarter to go, Ellis would have scored well over 50 points if it wasn’t for the tacky call on an offensive foul. The Warriors wound up blowing out the Pacers after their 41-point fourth quarter outburst, 126-107. Ellis was the only player to break the 40-point mark in the game, the Pacers’ Danny Granger only scored 22 points, I thought he was a lock to blow up in this one.
It’s been nearly five years since Stephen Jackson joined Ron Artest in one of the ugliest events in US sports history, “The Malice at the Palace.” Three days from now will mark the five-year anniversary of that disgraceful night in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
On the other end of that brawl was Larry Brown. The Detroit Pistons head coach, fresh off a championship, grabbing the microphone from Pistons PA announcer John Mason and pleading with Detroit fans to stop and leave the arena in peace.
The two sides have both came so far in those five years and now are about to collide in Charlotte.
After demanding a trade (preferably to a contender), Jackson finally gets his wish — sort of. The Warriors are sending Jackson and guard Acie Law to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein. Jackson finally gets his way out of Golden State, but the Bobcats are far from a contender.
The Bobcats are currently on a four-game losing streak, have the worst offense in the league and are shooting under 40 percent, their leading scorer is Gerald Wallace who gives them less that 14 points a night.
This is where Jackson comes in.
Jackson is dynamic offensively and the last time he changed teams was when he turned the Warriors around and helped them pull off the biggest upset in league history. With Larry Brown on his side and some talented versatile players like Wallace, Boris Diaw and Raymond Felton, Jackson has a chance to be a leader again and potentially carry this team to their first-ever playoff appearance.
Sure, it’s not Cleveland, but it’s also not the pitiful Warriors and Don Nelson, who apparently has completely lost his mind.
UPDATE: ESPN’s Ric Bucher is reporting that Jackson is happy with the trade and is on his way to Orlando right now in hopes of playing tonight with his new teammates.
Yesterday I went over the much-improved Eastern Conference, and today I’m going to hit you all with my Western Conference preview.
Ron Artest is in Hollywood, San Antonio is healthy and has added a bunch of new talent and Allen Iverson has agreed to come off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies. The plot thickens out West, but one thing remains, Kobe Bryant is the league’s best player and is chasing after his fifth championship ring.
How will the West play out? I know the answers to all of this, so read the review already.
The trades have been crazy, and I’ve been slacking on my game, so if you have to, get caught up with me:
The Los Angeles Lakers have sold the 29th pick to the New York Knicks.
The Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors are working on a trade to send Don Nelson’s favorite player, Jamal Crawford, to the Hawks.
The Spurs made a bold move and acquired swingman Richard Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks, adding youth and more talent to their aging squad.
The Pistons acquired Frabricio Oberto from the Bucks for Amir Johnson, in a cap clearing move.
The Wizards shipped Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, Oleksiy Pecherov and the No. 5 pick in the draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.
Last night when I was looking at box scores, I noticed that Yahoo! Sports messed up and added Grant Hill to the roster of the Golden State Warriors in their box score of the high-scoring Kings/Warriors game.
Hill chipped in with 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting for the Warriors (off the bench in 38 minutes of action) in their 143-141 victory in double overtime. He also did the same for Phoenix last night in their win against Houston. Maybe Hill should get some MVP consideration, putting in work for two teams like that in victories in the same night.
That’s how you know I’m a nerd, little things like that make me laugh, I Love This Game!
Oh yeah, Monta Ellis easily had his best game of the season and his career with 42 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Warriors fans have to feel good about that, as Ellis is coming along after that big injury last summer, that was well documented.
Also, that underrated Kevin Martin kid had 50 points last night (just a day after Jason Muhme and I were arguing who’s more underrated John Salmons or Martin, Muhme says Martin, so he loved this. I’m still sticking with Salmons), unfortunately most people have no idea who he is, he averages 24 points per game though.
One of my favorite players of all-time would have to be Tim Hardaway. He was deadly, he had a mean shot that was absolutely clutch. I remember watching him on the Heat and with no fear he would just jack up 25 foot three-point attempts, and so many times, they’d go nothing but net.
Hardaway had one of the most notorious and dangerous moves in the league, the infamous “Killer Crossover.” He could catch anyone off their feet with that move and blow right by you, it was truly a magical thing to watch.
Hardaway was a dynamite player and a definite MVP candidate during some of those six seasons he spent with the Miami Heat. In 1991-92 Hardaway put up 23 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals a night for the Golden State Warriors, that was probably his best season statistically.
Hardaway was drafted 14th overall by the Warriors in 1989 and instantly earned that starting point guard role from head coach Don Nelson. He spent almost six seasons in Oakland before being traded during the 1995-96 season to the Heat for Bimbo Coles and Kevin Willis.
Hardaway went on to become one of the best players in Heat franchise history and him and Alonzo Mourning would probably have won a championship if Michael Jordan and the Bulls didn’t exist. Those Heat teams had some amazing playoff series against both the Bulls and even more notably, the New York Knicks.
Hardaway was definitely an amazing player who averaged 18 points, 8 asissts and three rebounds over his 13-year career. Check out this old school video of a young Timmy, and see what all my fuss is about.
Change your NBA franchise? Recent NCAA POY. A.Davis,Jimmer,E.Turner,Blake,Tyler H,KD,Redick,Bogut,Jameer,TJ Ford,JWill,Shane,KMart,Brand.(via Twitter)5 hours ago
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