Magic Johnson Joins In On Criticism of LeBron

The bandwagon of criticizing LeBron's recent decision to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh just added the biggest member yet; Magic Johnson.

Magic said in a story done by the Bloomberg News that he would have never joined Larry Bird back in his day. He went on to basically say he wanted to beat Bird, much like LeBron should be figuring out a way to beat the other NBA superstars like Wade.

This is a tricky subject here. On one hand Magic looks a little bias to his Lakers and the fact that he chose to enter the draft to get the chance to play with Kareem Abdul-Jabar. However, that situation doesn't compare to LeBron's situation because Magic was a rookie at the time with no NBA experience.

Of course any rookie is going to jump at the opportunity to play with an NBA superstar. It's completely different from playing in the league for seven years and realizing you can't win on your own, so you decide to take the "easy" way out.

You can't fault LeBron too much because the cornerstone of being considered the greatest has become based on winning championships rather than personal achievements.

With the giant ego that LeBron has it would be dumb to think that LeBron is doing this for anything other than one day being known as the best ever to play the game.

I do believe that LeBron made the wrong decision by choosing Miami over Chicago. The Bulls are a more complete team and it would be considered LeBron's team from day one.

It's Dwyane Wade's team in Miami no matter how great LeBron thinks he is. LeBron and Bosh are the two sidekicks and Wade is the king.

Knicks Sign Amar'e, Get Closer To LeBron

Nothing like adding a guy like Amar'e Stoudemire to get yourself closer to signing the real prize which is LeBron James.

Basically the Knicks are still the same team they were before adding Stoudemire because in return they're going to lose their best player in David Lee, who is also a power forward.

Last season Stoudemire averaged 23 points and nine rebounds, while Lee averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds.

But the key here is LeBron James. Big surprise. LeBron wanted to play alongside Stoudemire last season but the Cavaliers settled for Antawn Jamison.

Now LeBron is not only lured to New York's glamour, but now has a superstar that he's already expressed he wants to play with.

Seems like a no-brainer that LeBron is heading to the Big Apple, but not so fast.

Subtle hints are being made that LeBron is going to stay in Cleveland. He's in Akron right now doing his Nike camp so it's very likely we won't know his decision until the end of the week.

Even though I'm sure Wade will love to play with the likes of Amar'e Stoudemire, I can't see him going anywhere but Chicago or Miami.

Here's how I think it will all shake out:

1. The Amar'e addition will entice LeBron to go to New York and increase his global brand image along with putting himself on a playoff team in a watered-down Eastern Conference.
2. Dwyane Wade will ditch Miami and go to Chicago to be closer to his kids and will pull Chris Bosh with him, making Chicago a good favorite for Eastern Conference champions.
3. The city of Cleveland goes into a state of emergency as ALL of their sports teams are horrible once again.
4. Boozer ends up with a desperate Miami squad that just lost the face of its franchise.
   

I realize that I could end up being way off, but at this point its anyone's guess as to what is going to happen within the next three days or so.

At least one dominoe has fallen and it landed in the Big Apple.

My Odds on Where LeBron Will End Up

• Knicks: 40%
• Cleveland: 20%
• Chicago: 20%
• Miami: 10%
• New Jersey: 5%
• Anywhere else: 5%
  

Building the NBA's Super-Team

At least one team is going to come out of this year's free agency looking almost like an all-star team with the Knicks, Heat, Nets and Bulls making the biggest push.

All of this is of course centered around the acquisition of LeBron James, but it comes nowhere close to stopping there.

Teams are figuring out ways to lure LeBron in and since this is probably the flashiest free agent class in NBA history, teams have plenty to work with.

Currently the Heat have the most leverage here because they have Dwyane Wade and are now working to get Chris Bosh to join.

Imagine that? Wade, LeBron, and Bosh all on the same team. Plus Miami is a glamorous city that will attract the likes of LeBron.

The overall consensus has been that LeBron will go to the Bulls in the end, but that really depends on where Bosh goes. He's kind of the x-factor in where all of the dominoes end up falling.

Then you have the lowly Nets who are extremely young and have nowhere to go but up. At the end of the week they'll make their first face-to-face pitch to LeBron and still plan on making pitches to Bosh and Wade as well.

It doesn't matter where these three guys end up if they end up together. Wherever it is that team will be nearly unstoppable. It will make the 2008 additions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to join Paul Pierce child's play.

The Cavaliers can pretty much kiss LeBron goodbye because there's no way he's staying there and passing up on the opportunity to play alongside the likes of Wade or Bosh.

And then you have the Knicks who have the advantage of playing in New York City and offering more to LeBron's "brand" than any other team can. But LeBron said he wants to win championships more than anything else.

The Knicks are trying to address that by talking to Amare Stoudemire and Joe Johnson. Those players would definitely be enticing to LeBron so we'll have to see where that goes.

So take all the time you need to decipher all of this because it's really like firing into the dark and trying to hit a bulls eye to figure out where LeBron will end up after he becomes a free agent on July 1.

2010 Noteworthy Free Agents (Unrestricted)

• LeBron James
• Dwyane Wade
• Amare Stoudemire
• Chris Bosh
• Carlos Boozer
• Joe Johnson
• Dirk Nowitzki
• Paul Pierce
• Kenyon Martin
  

Will Jackson Ditch Sunny SoCal For Old Stomping Grounds?

Not only is Phil Jackson currently having to coach his team back to another NBA Finals, but now he is in the midst of a contract negotiation with owner Jerry Buss.

Rumor has it Jackson is up for a hefty decrease in pay to make room for one of the free agents out of this historic class that's coming up in just a month.

Sources close to the situation are saying that contact has already been made by the Chicago Bulls to bring back the coach that put them on the map. We already know they're lobbying for LeBron James as well, and it's not crazy to think that Jackson would be drawn to another superstar.

Whatever happens in the Western Conference Finals might determine if Jackson stays or not.

There's really nothing to lose if Jackson does go to Chicago. He's already cemented himself into coaching royalty even if he does end his coaching career on a sub-par team. However, Chicago is a team that is on its way up.

Worst case scenario Jackson sails off into the sunset with at least ten rings, and maybe 11 if the Lakers win this year. In other words, I think Jackson has some wiggle room to do what he wants.

This offseason is going to be a busy one in the NBA and it looks like Phil Jackson wants a piece of the action. In the end I think Jackson stays where he's at in L.A. The situation is too comfortable and he's already made his millions.

It would be a great story seeing Jackson return to where he won six championships as a coach and possibly coach LeBron, but he's going to stay with a team that's going to continue to be contending for championships for years to come.

Ron Artest Catches the Twitter Bug

This whole Twitter thing has turned out to be a great emotional tool for professional athletes, much like it probably is for the masses of high school teens.

The only difference is professional athletes put themselves in the possibility of heavy fines whenever they express, or rather tweet, their emotions about certain things involving the team or the league.

Ron Artest is the latest to use Twitter to show his displeasure, and it was in the form of criticizing Lakers coach Phil Jackson:

"Finally Phil Jackson didn't mention me in media talking me Now I can build on game 2. Hopefully he talks to me before the media"

Just about an hour later another tweet came along:

"Ever since phil mention things about me in media before coming to me first I was weird . So every pray he can somehow close his yapper."

Now Artest has declined to elaborate at all on the subject which is usually typical. I'm starting to think that some of these athletes just have to be in the spotlight in some way other than what they do on the playing field.

Some people, including Artest's brother, is claiming that someone hacked into his Twitter account. That might be a possibility, but if that's the case then why wouldn't Artest just say that.

Once again it comes back to the need to be in the spotlight.

Jackson was very critical of the shot selection from behind the arc from Artest, and I'm sure it bruised Artest's ego a bit when he heard the legendary Phil Jackson to tell him to stop shooting so much from behind the arc.

Artest is shooting around 17 percent from behind the arc, so can you really blame Jackson for addressing that issue?

If you can't deal with the media then maybe you shouldn't be playing your professional ball in the NBA. It's the line of work you've chosen and you have to learn to deal with the criticism along with the praise.

Meanwhile, the Lakers seem to be in cruise control to another Western Conference Finals appearence as they're up 2-0 in their series with the Jazz.

The NBA Finally Makes a Discplinary Statement

The NBA hasn't exactly lived up to the "no nonsense" NFL standards over the past years. Very rarely do you see an indefinite suspension in the NBA, but it happened today.

Just days after news broke out that Gilbert Arenas was keeping a gun in his locker during games NBA commissioner David Stern laid down the law. He hit Arenas where the sun don't shine, and that's his bank account.

Arenas is indefinitely suspended without pay, and rightfully so. There's no room for bringing firearms into your line of work.

His excuse for the incident made me laugh, but not in a good way. He basically said that he was just kidding around and that he's a kind of guy who has a big sense of humor. Another part of his defense is that the guns were unloaded, but people have been killed a countless number of times in this country by guns that were previously thought to be unloaded.

You may think you're funny, but your teammate Javaris Crittenton didn't think so. Neither did the NBA.

It couldn't have come at a worse time for Arenas either. He was averaging over 22 points per game to go along with over seven assists per game. He bid a farewell to the NBA last night with 19 points and 14 assists in a win against the 76ers.

The NBA has to start becoming just as strict as the NFL is if they want to shed their "thug-like" image that much of mainstream America has on them. Bringing guns to the locker room and pointing them at teammates to settle a poker dispute isn't the best way to go about that.

Arenas's image has gradually been going down hill for a while now. Who knows where this road may end up for Arenas. Unless he gets some serious jail time then Arenas will get his chance to redeem himself.

Ron Artest went on a rampage in the seats and now he's got a chance at an NBA ring with the Lakers.

In the NBA you pretty much have to assassinate the commissioner for them to toss you out of the league, so Arenas will be back sooner or later.

Iverson's Next Destination is Memphis

It's now official. The sports world has been taken over by Twitter.

We've reached a time in history where we get just as much, if not more, sports news via Twitter than we do from the actual sport reporters themselves.

The most recent news comes from Allen Iverson's twitter which states he's going to the Memphis Grizzlies. This deal has been speculated all summer but now it seems to be confirmed.

This is actually a great fit for Iverson. He wants to be the main guy on the court and he'll be able to do that in Memphis.

You may think that this is a horrible fit for Iverson considering Memphis has been historically one of the worst teams in the NBA, but not so fast.

The Grizzlies are one of the up and coming teams in the NBA. They're loaded with young talent and those younger players are only going to get better. The only thing that could hold the Grizzlies back could be the management side of the team.

However, the Grizzlies could be hurt by this deal if Iverson starts to be the dramatic player that he has been at times in the past. I don't see that happening.

There is already a solid nucleus within this team with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay running things. Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol's younger brother, showed that he can be a solid center for the team last season.

Iverson has a great opportunity to end his career on a solid note. He doesn't have to win a championship to solidify his legacy. All he has to do is show he can be a leader of a team that is very young. If he does that, he will that he's one of the best point guards in NBA history.

Iverson Going Across the Pond?

Former NBA superstar Allen Iverson is finding free agency a little tough this offseason. Even teams like the Grizzlies don't seem to be interested.

The former MVP may not be getting offers from any team in the states, but an offer from a team out of Greece has reportedly presented Iverson with a two-year, $10 million deal.

It's very unlikely Iverson will get that kind of money from an NBA team, so now Iverson has a big decision to make. Go to Greece and be the #1 guy that he so desperately wants, or stay in the NBA and have a lesser role than he's use to.

Iverson may be one of the best scorers of my generation, but his glory days are long gone and Iverson just can't seem to accept that.

If Iverson does go to Greece, he'll definitely enjoy a fair amount of stardom. He'll also get plenty of opportunities to hurl up 30-plus shots a game like we saw him do when he played for the Sixers.

As great as all that sounds, this isn't Iverson's best move. Iverson has to learn to be the sixth man. Lamar Odom had to do that last season and it got him a ring.

By staying in the NBA and taking a smaller role, Iverson will leave himself the opportunity sail gracefully into the sunset as his career eventually comes to an end.

Age isn't too big of a factor here. He's only 34 which means he still has at least a solid three or four years in the league. Who knows what can happen during that time if Iverson can stop making everything about himself on the court.

There will still be plenty of chances for Iverson to resurrect his career and go out on a good note. He may not go out as the go-to guy that he once was, but Iverson has to learn to step aside and be the classy veteran that can help the NBA's future talent get better and better.

If Iverson can't learn to be the sixth man , I hope he likes pita bread.

Yao May Never Play Again....

The Houston Rockets could be in a lot of trouble if the speculations of Yao Ming's foot injury proves to be career-ending. Some think he may be back next year, but nothing is known for sure and anything can end up happening.

Just to put it into perspective, if Yao misses next season, much less the rest of his career, then the Rockets will be without a dominant center. Dikembe Mutombo has already retired.

There are no other centers currently listed on Houston's roster. In fact, there's no one listed over 7'0'', with the next tallest player being Carl Landry at 6'9''. That's extremely bad news for the Rockets.

With the loss of Yao Ming, the Rockets would instantly drop from the top four in the Western Conference to one of the bottom-dwellers. The Western Conference is just that strong.

The damage gets even worse than that on a broader scale. The NBA could lose millions on Yao Ming from the international perspective. Yao is easily the biggest foreign star in the league.

The Rockets have declined to comment on the speculations but they have said that they want to wait till all the facts get out.

There are some positive signs that seem to show that the injury won't be as severe as some people are saying. Yao has said that his foot hasn't been swelling and doesn't feel tender.

As of right now, all the Rockets can do is keep their fingers crossed that Yao's treatment is a success and that he's able to return, if not next season, then by 2010. If not, then it could be back to the cellar for a team that just started to get the taste of success again.