Thursday, February 27, 2014

What mask should Lebron James wear?



Lebron James broke his nose against the Oklahoma City Thunder. There is no way around it, wearing a mask wont be fun for him, but I'm going to try to make it fun. Below are some pictures of Lebron, in the process of doing his famous tomahawk break away Jam wearing all different types of masks. Which is your Favorite?



"The Mask" Mask, if you saw the movie, you would understand why this works so well!

Bane Mask: You may have seen it already & you know you love it.

 Scream Mask: He leaves opponents screaming for help on the switch!

V for Vicious Jams!

Who wouldn't want to bring back the Power Rangers?

His stats will haunt opposing fantasy owners.

So many believe he plays for the Dark Side

He is Royalty.....


Leave a comment or hit me up on twitter.

About me: My name is Steven Davis and I love Basketball and being creative. I am hoping one day to produce a TV Show on NBATV as well as a Sports and Health Magazine with a twist.

Follow me at @FunnyNBAGuy

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Stop Hating on Dwight Howard, He is an NBA Nice Guy











         I know this is going to hurt a lot of Lakers and Magic fans but Dwight Howard is not a bad guy. I am a hardcore Lakers fan, and I have no problem saying that, in fact, Dwight Howard is a great guy. Am I saying that from personal experience? Well, Yes. In my wild NBA fandom, I used to go to a lot of basketball games. I would go very early to try to get autographs and/or to just interact with players. Often times players would wave, smile or take the occasional  picture with the hot girl. Even rarer was when an opposing player would take the time out to autograph things, and more often than not, the only stuff that is autographed is stuff being held by that really adorable 5 year old kid.



           
Enter Dwight Howard. The day was December 8th, 2008. That day happens to be Dwight’s birthday. The Magic were in LA to face the Clippers and I like most of the Basketball World was a big fan of Howard so, I bought a basketball and went to the game as early as possible. We watched howard warm up, and by the way, that alone was worth the price of admission.  About 30-45 minutes before tip players generally would wave and run into the locker room, not Dwight. There was easily a group of 30-40 people who wanted autographs, pictures, high fives, you name it, they were there and Dwight Howard obliged ALL OF THEM, Included in them was me, a 23 year old guy (older than Howard). Howard not only autographed the ball for me, but he also took a picture with my best friend who was 25 years old at the time.

 (Just to note this picture is of what I consider to be the greatest missed dunk ever, you can see me in the picture my mouth open on the right side of the net, next to the kid in the red sweatshirt) 

 Here are the highlights from the night, At the end during the interview you will notice me and my friends hopping up and down behind Howard.

 Conclusion 
So deep down to the core, Dwight Howard is a really nice guy. He doesn't feel better than anyone else, like many of the other NBA players I have interacted with. He loves his fans, he loves to be happy, he loves and wants to win. 

The Orlando Magic Need to Give it a rest.

I recently saw the Orlando Magic's 25th anniversary Media Guide. Here is the cover.....Tell me if you notice anything strange.


First off you must realize the obvious, Jameer Nelson never played with Penny, thats a joke of course, Dwight Howard is not on the cover! That is insane!! Now if you want to say it is because he left the team, then why is Shaq on the cover, did shaq do more for the Magic than Dwight? For G-d's sake they have several people that they are trying to portray as legends and they left out Dwight. Inexcusable. 
Review this little illustration below.



Now in no way am I saying that Dwight deserves the spot over Shaq, what I am saying is that if you are going to put Shaq on, how do you leave off Dwight. Dwight's accolades match Shaq's and even more-so he played with the Magic twice as long. I know Shaq revolutionized the team, but so did Dwight, The Orlando Magic were relevant in the 90's because of Shaq and relevant in the 2000s because of Dwight! Not to mention that Dwight Howard was almost always in the top of the list of Jersey Sales. 

Now, say they were really upset about how Dwight left the Magic. I think its completely overblown. Dwight Howard loved Orlando and his team and was torn, he stayed an extra year when he should not have, and why? BECAUSE HE IS A GOOD GUY and didn't want to upset people in Orlando. When he did finally leave, what the Magic got in return was way more than what they got when Shaq left. 

One area of this whole situation that needs to be understood is that every NBA players goal is to win a ring, Dwight Howard was/is no different. The Magic were in a situation where Dwight's best years would be wasted, and Dwight needed to move on. I think the way he did it may have hurt a lot of people, but that only happened because Dwight didn't want to hurt anyone (if that makes sense.)


Lakers Fans need to Relax

I am a Laker fan, and I saw it coming. Dwight Howard was never going to resign with the Lakers and he never should have. It should have been clear to Laker fans that Dwight wouldn't stay when he publicly said he wanted to play in Brooklyn. Additionally Laker fans owe some sort of thank you to Dwight. He was playing injured all season. If he was really this bad guy everyone tries to convince us he is, he would have made excuse after excuse to not play one game. Fact of the matter is that in the short time that he was with the Lakers he still lead the league in rebounding. He was unhappy and in a place he didn't want to be, and in my eyes never threw in the towel.
But he left the Lakers??!! Wouldn't have you? I know they are the greatest franchise in the NBA but they wont be great for a while now, with or without Howard there. Kobe is injured, Nash is old and Howard is not a superhuman, even Lebron needed Bosh and Wade, Dwight needed help and was man enough to admit it.

More reasons to Love Dwight as a Person and Player

 -He still operates his charities in Orlando
-In 2009 he took 50 kids on a $20,000 shopping spree
-Dwight Howard Charitable Foundation
-D12 Foundation
-He is active on Twitter +Dwight Howard (he often does Q & A's with fans)
-He just wants to make everyone happy 
-He still throws down ridiculous dunks
-He was already a star when he participated in the Dunk Contest (ehem Mr. Lebron James) again proving he wanted to make fans happy.


Just stop the Madness

If you haven't already picked up on it, Dwight Howard is a nice guy. He deserves the respect of all of the fans of the Magic and of the NBA. He deserves to be on the cover of the Media Guide and he even should have his number retired by the Magic (sorry Tobias Harris.) Because he wants to win does not make him a bad guy, no one complains about Charles Barkley going to the Rockets. 
While you try to convince yourself that this whole article is garbage and that I am wrong, do yourself a favor, buy some tickets to the next time Dwight comes to your hometown, buy a ball and get to the game early. Let me know what happens next.

About me: My name is Steven Davis and I love Basketball and being creative. I am hoping one day to produce a TV Show on NBATV as well as a Sports and Health Magazine with a twist.

Follow me at @FunnyNBAGuy








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2014: The Summer of the Orlando Magic


We have all heard it; "This year's NBA draft is going to be the greatest of all time." I must say, I believe it will definitely rival the draft of 1996 and 2003. The draft class is stacked. There is no team in the League that is hoping for this Draft class to be epic, more than the Orlando Magic. If the Draft lives up to its billing, and the ping pong balls fall the right way, The Magic may be at the top of the east sooner than anyone could have imagined. 

 The Magic have 2 first round picks in this years draft; their own and the worse of the Knicks or Nuggets picks, which as of now will definitely still be in the lottery. As of now the Magic have (in a perfect ping pong ball world) the 3rd and 13th pick. With those picks, they would pick up a potential superstar at the #3 pick, assuming Embiid, Parker, Randle and Wiggins come out.
Now, there is obviously a chance that the Draft: 
A) Ends up not being what we expect
B) The magic get screwed in the draft lottery and end up with two late lottery picks, assume the last two 13 and 14.

In scenario A, the Magic would stay at the Bottom of the East and continue to get high draft picks and eventually lure a free agent to play with the potential of the young promising team.

In Scenario B, the Magic wouldn't be that bad off. In that scenario they may end up with 2 guys like Tyler Ennis from Syracuse and Kyle Anderson from UCLA. Either way, everyone believes this year is full of real prospects so while they may miss out all perrenial all stars they could potentially draft guys that a solid position players in the league for a long time. Still an okay scenario considering that as of now they are in Position to have a pretty competitive team in any possible draft day scenario. 

Most Realistic Scenario
(Franchise Rises to top of east in 3-4 Years)

The Draft Lottery is a beast of its own, ping pong balls deciding the future of a franchise. Generally the pre-lottery order stays pat, but rarely do the first 5 picks go the way they should. For arguments sake, lets assume the Magic both move up from 3 to 2 or 1 or they stay at 3 or fall ball to 4. Either way they will pick up one of the 4 above mentioned players. They have 3 positions that need improvement; Point Guard, Small Forward and Power Forward. I believe the Magic will do what it takes to keep Oladipo, Afflalo, Tobias Harris and Vucevic around, as they should. Afflalo may have some trade Value down the road but as of now, they should and I believe will hold onto him.

In the best case scenario the Orlando Magic will end up with their 3rd pick and a 10-13 pick. Assume they pick up Wiggins OR Parker OR Randle and Tyler Ennis.

In that Scenario where they select Wiggins/Parker and Ennis, their team backbone would look something like this. 

PG                    SG                  SF                       PF                C
Nelson             Oladipo        Wiggins/Parker       Nicholson     Vucevic
Ennis               Afflalo             Harris                 Maxiel

They may of course take Embiid or Randle

PG                    SG                  SF             PF/C
Nelson             Oladipo           Harris        Vucevic
Ennis               Afflalo                         Randle/Embiid
                                                             Nicholson 
                                                               Maxiel

 In either Scenario the Magic will have 4 positions filled by players that should be mainstays for a While. 

That being said, in the summer of 2015 there are free agents that can impact a team in a serious way. The Magic will have some money free and Maxiel and Nelson come off of the books. Vucevic will become a FA as well but the Magic should resign him, and that shouldn't be difficult bc of the promise of the team and they can offer him the most money.
Best Case Scenario 
(Franchise Altered Immediately)

As I said before, the draft has produced some interesting scenarios, most recently the Cavaliers acquired the First overall pick (from the Clippers) which turned into Kyrie Irving. Their second pick (the 4th) was used on Triston Thompson (fail.)

Lets pretend the Magic are just as Fortunate and are able to somehow land two of the top 4 picks. Well in that case, the Magic will be in a position to pick up 2 marquee players, even with the possibility of Pairing ip fellow Kansas Jayhawks, Wiggins and Embiid. In any scenario they will immediately be better off for the future, they will be in a position that is unlike anything we have seen since the OKC thunder, and while the Thunder were forced to trade Harden, the Magic should be able to keep Oladipo, the 2 draft Picks, Vuceviv and a future free agent because Orlando, believe it or not, is a pretty well off franchise. Their owner Richard Devos, according the Forbes, is only the 60th wealthiest person in the USA and wants to win! 

Why will free agents come?

Orlando is a beautiful city, they have a state of the art stadium and training facility (summer league is held there.) Their young pieces are promising Additionally, they have already done it before proving they are not afraid to PAY UP TO WIN!


Rashard Lewis signed (albeit a bad deal for the Magic) a 6 year $118 million contract.
Either way, the Magic are set for a franchise changing year in 2014. I am excited to see it happen, the city and the fans deserve it. In addition, they are in the ever weak East whose top teams the Pacers and Heat will all be falling in 3-4 years when the Magic will be peaking.

 About me: My name is Steven and I love Basketball. I have recently changed careers and am hoping one day to produce a TV Show on NBATV and a Sports Magazine with a twist.

Follow me at @FunnyNBAGuy




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Old NBA Plays you must watch now!!

Let's face it, the NBA is full of highlights, but you may or may not have enough time to watch them all. More so, there are probably many top plays from yesteryear that you probably missed due to the fact that coverage was not as widespread, you were too young to care or because YouTube didn't exist yet.

 In this short Post I am going to post some of my top plays from the past. If you are an avid NBA fan or an frequent NBATV viewer some of these may seem familiar, if not prepare to be entertained!

 First up is JR Rider. This play has special meaning to me because when trying to describe it to my buddy I reenacted it, and MADE it. Still to this day one of the craziest hyped up moments of my life.


When I say Eddie you say Jones. Eddie!! Jones!! (This was the old Lakers in game chant. Had Kobe Bryant never came into the picture, Eddie jones would have gone down as the second greatest SG ever (behind Jerry West.) He was a freak! This may be the furthest in game dunk ever.



The next play is by Keon Clark, the man I still think owns the record for longest arms ever.
   
On this play, you can see in slow motion, Bradley is moving Clark away from the basket and Clark's freakishly long arms still allow him to throw it down!

 Next up Kobe, just watch.  
To this day one of my favorite plays of all time.

Next Up is a play from a player that was in the league for a minute, Mike Taylor of the Clippers. I was sitting behind the Clippers bench this game and I told him that he would get in. He said if he did he would do something special. He did.

Gary Payton with the play that pretty much made everyone think they could save a ball from going out of bounds


The Title says it all

Fast forward to the end of this Video, watch the game winner. 7:52. Notice the fan reaction, this game was in LA.


Stephon Marbury with an Alley oop that looks like he flies in slow motion.


Kobe with one of the most difficult Alley Oops Ever


Anytime Chick Hearn Yells, you know you have a good play.


My best friend and I practiced this play for a full week, and did it at the park. Shut it down.



Hope you enjoyed a little highlight blast from the past.

About me: My name is Steven Davis and I love Basketball. I am hoping one day to produce a TV Show on NBATV and a Sports Magazine with a twist.

Follow me at @FunnyNBAGuy


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Monday, February 24, 2014

The Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets are on Their Way to the Top

This NBA season is full of surprises. For one, many teams that we thought would be good, are great. Many teams we thought would be great are just good. Oh and the Knicks stink. But for me the biggest surprise is the Charlotte Bobcats. Currently the Bobcats are the 7th seed in the east, and while that does not mean they are playing great, it does mean that they are playing better than they normally do, and something tells me they will continue to get better.

The biggest reason why I think the Bobcats will get better is because they are rebranding themselves. Growing up in the 90s there was one team that was everyone's second favorite team; these guys.

The Charlotte Hornets were just the coolest team. They had Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and the ever famous Mugsy Bogues. They were fun to watch, fun to root for and best of all, they had the coolest jerseys, hats and apparel. That purple and teal looked good on just about everybody.
 Plus there was this...




To sum it up, THE HORNETS WERE COOL.

The Bobcats, however, are not as cool. They have been synonymous with losing, bad draft picks and the inability to attract any real free agents (minus Al Jefferson this season.) With the name change, the Bobcats are not only changing the colors of their jerseys, they are changing the attitude of the fan base, NBA world and in my opinion free agents to be.

The soon the be Charlotte Hornets play in Charlotte, North Carolina. North Carolina, for those of you that don't know, is home to some of the biggest basketball fans and most successful basketball programs in the country. Duke, UNC, Wake Forest & North Carolina State are all in North Carolina. Much like Oklahoma, this State is dying for a professional team that they can root for. We all see it, the Thunder have some of the most die hard fans in the league. The Hornets will be no different.

Why will free agents come?

There are several things that would attract free agents to any team.

1) Money
2) A chance to win a ring
3) Weather
4) Influence by people associated with the team.

plus.....

RICH CHO

Money

With the leagues new Salary Cap Restrictions, being a big market, richer team does not have the same impact that it used to. Charlotte should be able to keep up with the rest of the teams in the league, especially since their owner happens to be pretty wealthy himself.

A chance to win a ring 

Just by simply being in the Eastern Conference, Charlotte will have a exponentially better shot at making the playoffs and making it further into the playoffs, thats just the unfortunate truth about the Eastern Conference. Will they win a ring, potentially, but realistically there are usually only about 6-8 teams each season that have a real shot of winning, and those are the big city teams.

Weather

North Carolina has an upside that much of the Eastern Conference teams do not have, pretty good weather. Here is the Average weather for Charlotte vs New York vs Los Angeles. (credit weather.com)





       



Influence by people associated with the team

 The Charlotte Hornets have a wild card. That wild card?
This guy. 
Its Michael Freaking Jordan.



Why does that matter? For several reasons. One, for the remainder of our lives, or at least for the next 20 years, Michael Jordan will be known as the greatest player of all time. Players still love this guy, they still want to wear his shoes, they still emulate his play. Can't you see a young shooting guard or Small forward wanting to learn from this guy?
Michael Jordan has relinquished control of the team, which means he wont be making any bad picks, but he will still be there to be, well Michael Jordan. 
You would be naive to think that Michael Jordan has no influence. His Shoes company makes over 1.25 billion yes BILLION dollars a year.
He will grab someone big and get them to come to the Hornets. 

Rich Cho 

For those of you who don't know, Rich Cho is a basketball genius. He was the assistant GM during OKC's rise to the top and he will bring the same thing to the Hornets, he has already started.

My prediction, The Hornets will make the ECF in the next 6 years or less. Next Season they will have some money to play with and in 2015 they will be real players in the FA market.


Read more »
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The Greatest Rivalry in Sports #UNCvsDuke

Lakers vs. Celtics. Red Sox vs. Yankees. Dodgers vs. Giants. Auburn vs. Alabama. Michigan vs. Ohio State.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the candidates for the 2nd best rivalry in Sports. The spot reserved for the BEST has to be handed to UNC vs DUKE.  No event in sports has the same effect on the sports world as the when the TarHeels face the Blue Devils. I have come to the realization that it is just fact. Yes if you live in any of the cities that represent one of the teams mentioned above, you are probably throwing a hissy fit right now, but just be aware I am a HUGE Lakers and Dodgers fan, from LA, and I have come to the realization that there is just no comparison. The Lakers and Celtics rivalry is over, my 16 year old cousin, and even me for that fact cant really feel the old rivalry of the 80s, we are told to, we try to, but we can't. The Lakers and Celtics don't play enough meaningful games anymore for the rivalry to stay alive. Without getting into it much more, the rest of the rivalries too are just to localized to the regions that they take place, there just are not that many people in Pasadena California that care who wins the Auburn/Alabama game. No one outside of the east coast cares about the Red Sox or Yankees, they may pretend but really NO BODY cares.

Enter Duke VS North Carolina. The Rivalry we all care about, in some way shape or form.
This rivalry is the best for several reasons. 
1) The teams are 9 miles away from each other, and actually hate each other. 
2) The history of the two schools is remarkable. 
3) ESPN always shows their games, so it enables people outside of North Carolina to hate or love them as well. 
4) College is in your blood, meaning the people who went to UNC and Duke are forever connected, and they still care.... A LOT! 
5) It is always entertaining.
6) G-d Cares (according to a former TarHeel Star) 

 Location
First off you must understand that the rivalry is not just a sports team rivalry. Have you ever looked at a map of North Caroline, namely a map that includes the Location of UNC and Duke. Check it out. Living this close to someone you don't like, leads to real* hatred! (hate in sports is okay don't be a real hater in life)




Need I say more?

Short history of the Rivalry/Schools. 

The first meeting between the two schools was January 24, 1920. The result UNC 36 Duke 25. Since Then? 236 more meetings. These two teams see each other all the time. Currently they place at least 2 times a season, and potentially once more depending on the ACC tournament. Many claim the real rivalry started after an on court altercation between Duke's Art Heyman and UNC's Larry Brown (yes that Larry Brown). Others say the Rivalry became more heated in the 80's when Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski took over and ESPN started covering the Rivalry and the ACC more closely. Either way, it is now extremely heated between the two teams. I however would like to argue that the rivalry is more than that of just 2 teams hating each other. Over the past 80 years, Duke and North Caroline have been pretty darn good. Additionally, these two teams have combined for 8 national championships over the past 30 years. With that, they have probably beaten your favorite team, a bunch of times. More so they were probably the reason your school didnt make it to the final four. UNC is 1st all time in appearances, Duke is 3rd. So what does that mean? Well it means that you may not actually be rooting for Duke or UNC but you sure as hell are rooting against one of them.


Many have claimed that Duke VS. UNC is a rivalry because of how different the Students, faculty are lifestyle of the two schools are. I believe it, Duke is a Private School and UNC a state school. Kids in Private school act differently that public school kids, have to imagine that plays a role in the actual rivalry between the two schools.

Most Importantly, #UNCvsDuke Turns everyone into a Crazed Fan

 The most recent meeting was Feb 20, a game that was delayed 8 days due to a snowstorm. During these extra days I noticed something that made me want to write this short article. 

 This Games turns people that we idolize into normal crazy fans just like us. (See Below)

 My First example? Famous people betting on twitter.
Bets Rick Fox vs. Grant Hill.
For a quick history refresher. Rick Fox was a star at UNC 88-91. Hill was a star for Duke in 90-92. Fox and Hill played each other 3 times during there college careers, all in the 1990 season. The Blue Devils won both regular season match-ups while the Tarheels beat Duke in the ACC tournament.
So on Feb 20, 2014, this happened.



@realgranthill33 @atv3 @SportsVentz the Devil made you do it Grant -- you hacked your own account -- #cheekyDukey
— Rick Fox (@Rickafox) February 21, 2014

Next, The ICONIC Stuart Scott and Jay Williams.


Rick Fox added some insight into his love for his team.
The Game ended and UNC was victories. Stuart Scott, a die hard UNC fan chimed in on the controversial court storming....
Second Example? OLD PLAYERS NOW IN THE NBA STILL CARE.... A LOT! 







99% Percent of the Time, you will be entertained! See some examples below.






 Lastly, the final reason why this is the greatest rivalry in sports? Its the only game that G-d Cares about.


About me: My name is Steven and I love Basketball. I have recently changed careers and am hoping one day to produce a TV Show on NBATV and a Sports Magazine with a twist.

Follow me at @FunnyNBAGuy


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