9 Responses to “Watch Los Angeles Lakers vs Washington Wizards Live 14.12.2012”

1. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   In The End… Everyone Got Paid. End Of Story.

   Reply
2. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   “Contributing to the growing prosperity of the NBA in the 1980s and to its emergence as a popular and profitable segment of the entertainment industry were several factors, not least of which were the marketing efforts of league commissioner David Stern. The league used the appeal of its top stars–especially Bird, Johnson, and Jordan–to market itself to fans. Another factor in the league’s growth was the fan interest triggered by the intense rivalry between the league’s top two teams, the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, which happened to be led by the league’s top two players, Bird and Johnson. The Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals three times in the mid-1980s, the excitement of their rivalry being amplified by the charisma of Bird and Johnson; the historic competition between the two teams in the 1960s; and the contrast between their two fundamentally different styles of basketball–East Coast fundamentals vs. West Coast razzle-dazzle.
   As Bird and Johnson became the league’s brightest stars and as their teams won championships, they helped the NBA to embark on a new era of soaring attendance, sold-out games, escalating salaries, and lucrative television and sponsorship deals in which the players themselves became heavily marketed international celebrities. Increasing both his own income and his stake with fans, Bird appeared in television commercials for several companies, most prominently McDonalds and Converse Shoes.

   In order to allow the Celtics and Lakers to keep Bird and Johnson on their teams, the NBA restructured itself economically in 1984, passing an exception to its salary-cap rules that would become known as the “Larry Bird Exception.” This move allowed teams to re-sign their star players at exorbitant costs, regardless of the team’s salary limit, and led to skyrocketing player salaries in the late 1980s and 1990s.”
   Just thought I let you know Alpha Wolf. )

   http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200103
   You bring up a good point Mr. B. I’m just responding to Alpha Wolf’s criticism of MJ because that’s like the one thing he enjoys doing these days.
   mrkeef – while I agree with you to a certain extend but there was something special about Jordan, which was why the league even bothered marketing him. Dominique was also a special player who played about the rim and I don’t see the NBA all over him like they were all over Magic, Bird, and Jordan. Besides, MJ was the right guy to market and certainly has the resume to back it up because he has achieved more than Magic or Bird throughout their careers..
   King – you tell them Wazzzup!!!!
   Hoopfan – Did it ever occur to you that MJ was the pioneer of the dunk from the free throw line showcase? Dominique’s windmill dunk may have been superb but it’s been done in the past by many of the previous elite dunkers (Dr. J, Connie Dawkins to name a few). When you originate a new style of dunk or increase boundaries (because it takes more major hops to jump from the free throw line and dunk) then judges will give more weight to originality over a perfect dunk that they have seen done countless times.

   I’ll give you an example. In the 1992 Slam Dunk Contest, there was Larry Johnson, Cedric Ceballos, John Starks, and Nick Anderson competing. It came down to Larry Johnson and Cedric Ceballos as the finalist. Cedric basically blind folded himself and ran towards the rim and dunked. It was a normal dunk but Ceballos made it look like he couldn’t see. Even Charles Barkley said that dunk was phony and believed that Cedric could actually see the rim even though he was
   blind folded. Ceballos’ dunk wasn’t spectacular or better than Larry Johnson’s but the judges gave more weight to his originality because it was never seen or done before.

   Last year’s 2007 Slam Dunk Contest came down to the 2-Time Slam Dunk Champ Nate Robinson vs. Runnerup Gerald Green. I honestly think that Nate’s last dunk was harder to complete and better than Green’s but the judge thought otherwise. There was probably some bias on the part of the judges because they didn’t want to have a small guy like Nate winning 3 consecutive Slam Dunk Contests. It’s only a matter of opinion that we both have and everyone is certainly entitled to one, whether we like it or not.
   The NBA All-Star Game MVP award isn’t always decided by better all-around stats. For example, the 2000 All-Star game MVP was shared by Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal on the winning West team when Shaq wasn’t even the top 2 scorers nor did he have the top 2 stats.

   Tim Duncan: 24 points / 14 rebounds
   Kevin Garnett: 24 points / 10 rebounds
   Shaquille O’Neal: 22 points / 9 rebounds

   I’ll give you another example. 1990 All-Star Game:

   Michael Jordan: 26 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
   Patrick Ewing: 18 points, 10 rebounds
   Charles Barkley: 17 points, 22 rebounds, 4 assists

   MVP: Charles Barkley
   Who had better all-around stats – MJ

   How about another one? 1984 All-Star Game:

   Julius Erving: 34 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists
   Isiah Thomas: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 15 assists

   MVP: Isiah Thomas
   Who had better all-around stats – Julius Erving
   My point is the All-Star game MVP award is not always given to the player with the best statistics in the game. It may be the criteria used to determine the MVP but that is not always the case. It can be given to an individual who the judge panel feels is more instrumental to the team success.

   Your comparison of Michael Jordan vs. Karl Malone’s 1998 season statistics is pretty bias don’t you think. How about we compare all 9 categories and see who was the better player and more efficient all-around performer?
   Points: Jordan 28.7 > Malone 27.0
   Rebounds: Jordan 5.8 < Malone 10.3
   Assists: Jordan 3.5 < Malone 3.9
   Steals: Jordan 1.7 > Malone 1.2
   Blocks: Jordan 0.5 < Malone 0.9
   Turnovers: Jordan 2.3 > Malone 3.0
   Threes / Game: Jordan 0.4 > Malone 0.0
   FG %: Jordan 46.3% < Malone 52.7%
   FT %: Jordan 78.4 % > 76.5%

   Of course, you know that Karl Malone will have the edge in rebounds and blocks being a power forward so I have to offset that with guard categories (3-pointers) so the only way to have a fair comparison is to include all the categories. Your analysis was incomplete as I suspected as you left out categories that would favor the Mailman in a direct comparison. However, after comparing all 9 categories, it is clear that MJ wins 5 (points, steals, turnovers, 3-pointers, Free Throw %) out of the 9 categories while Malone only gets 4 (rebounds, assists, blocks, field goal %). Since Chicago and Utah had the same record during the 1998 season, it makes sense why Jordan won the MVP.
   Now you’re getting pretty hilarious Alpha man. You’re comparing a young Allen Iverson versus a 30 plus year old Michael Jordan. Even a young Kobe Bryant who has made numerous NBA All-Defensive First Team selections couldn’t even keep up with A.I. and you’re expecting a 30 year old Jordan to do so? I don’t think there is anyone in the NBA, past or present, that would be able to keep up with A.I. Everyone knows he is the fastest guard in the NBA with the best handles. Since you’ve posted a video of Iverson scoring on Jordan, I thought it would be rude of me to not return the favor. So, here are a bunch of video clips displaying how Iverson took Kobe to school.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79WSHpMU894
   .
   .
   Oh Boy! If Jordan got schooled by A.I. the way Kobe did, he might as well hang his sneakers up early. Kobe, your numerous NBA All-Defensive First Team selections got schooled by Iverson so bad that they had to take Kobe off A.I. and put someone else on him. That’s pretty sad for Mr. NBA All-Defensive First Team.

   Alpha Wolf – I’ve come to the conclusion that you are totally bias in your analogy and you manipulate data to prove your point. That is…… until J.R. comes along and dismantles all your conspiracy theories that you’ve tried so hard to cover up. Who is in whose pocket now? Too easy!!! Hahaha

   Reply
3. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   so was kevin garnett

   Reply
4. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   sure

   Reply
5. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   True all true, but like any other business the nba was founded to make money as much as to showcase talents. Now Magic , Bird and Mj are three big cases of this. However, sports always do this and for example now lets see… Dwyane Wade had the most foul shots in a finals game and half of them were more than questionable calls. If you are looking for a sport without biase there is none unfortunately.

   My opinion is that let them play and you decide whether they truly deserve recognition or whether they are just average players who were elevated to the status of basketball gods by the media.

   Reply
6. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   I would say the only difference using your argument is this. While Bird & Magic were marketed by the league to help its image and so on, Jordan was marketed by outside interest, not the league at first. Jordan became a household name because of Nike, Gatorade, McDonalds and so on. THEN the NBA began to market him as a league star. Jordan’s star status was in place to the general public before his team was good enough to contend for a title. Bird & Magic became stars soley on the basis of what they did on the floor, while Jordan was a star because of the things he did ON AND OFF it!!

   Reply
7. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   I don’t care what anyone say. MICHAEL JORDAN IS THE GREATEST BY PROVING IT!

   6 NBA TITLES
   6 NBA FINALS MVP
   5 LEAGUE MVP
   1 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
   10 SCORING TITLES
   3 STEAL TITLES
   1 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR!

   Reply
8. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   Here’s my take on the whole ‘Jordan was considered a manufactured hero.’

   To be honest, he wasn’t a media creation or a manufactured hero. In my opinion, being a great basketball player does not equate to being a hero.

   Was he built up by the media? Absolutely.

   Was he a genius at handling the media? Yes, definitely. He had a way of being charismatic and confident without sounding arrogant or cocky.

   Over the years, he had some image problems from the gambling scandals in the early 90′s to the whispers from the Washington that Jordan treated his teammates on the Wizards badly.

   But never once should his basketball ability be in question and that is, lets face it, what made him such an appealing hero to many kids and even some adults. He became a global icon because of his acrobatic dunks and hang time fadeaways. -People loved him; he was to many (those who hadn’t seen Julius Erving play) the original, the first, basketball player to play above the rim, and be successful at it.

   His game was always exciting; people loved seeing his tounge out while slashing to rim. But then that raises the question of why Dominique wasn’t as highly regarded as Jordan. He too played above the rim and was pretty successful (out of 10 years, in 5 of the years the Hawks won 50 or more game). The reason was simple: Jordan was easily better. He played both sides of the court and was more of a finesse acrobatic player than Wilkins who on the other hand, always preferred to drive to the rim and flush it down with power instead.

   So, Jordan may have been built up the media as a ‘hero’ but it was his ability that got him that attention. And more importantly, his success. When a player wins championships as the star player, they obviously become more popular. Many forget that before Jordan won a championship in 91 vs. the Lakers, the media often compared him to Magic or Bird in a distasteful way: they said that he was not a team player and was simply another one man show. Once he started winning, all that changed. I mean when a guy wins 6 championships and two three peats while being the best player in the game on the best team in the game, it gets hard to insult him as a basketball player.

   Jordan was very lucky to have started playing basketball and winning after Magic and Bird were in the decline of their careers. Basketball was at an all time high after the Lakers-Celts rivalry and Jordan was able to feed off that. He was able to get the image of the ‘next great basketball ambassador’ and that Bird and Magic were stepping down so he could have his turn on the throne. It was a dramatic story and the media off that.

   So, my answer is Magic, Bird, or Jordan were media creations just like any other top athlete, but in no more of a way than rockstars and actors. In the end, all entertainers (athletes, actors, musicians) are somewhat of a creation; that’s what the entertainment businesses thrive on. And if that made him a hero to the some of the American Public, then that’s their choice.

   I admire Jordan, Magic, and Bird as some of the greatest basketball players of all time but that’s the extent of my appreciation. I am not naive enough to believe they were amazing people or anything like that.

   As I said earlier, in no way IMO does being a great athlete and an amazing basketball player warrant someone to be called a hero. Heroes are the firemen in 9/11, the soldiers who fight in Iraq. Jordan, though more famous than any of those people, is not a hero. And I would like to think most people can see that.

   Reply
9. Adrian Roth says:

   December 14, 2012 at 12:20 am

   1988 Slam Dunk Contest: Jordan vs. Dominique ( in Chicago)

   Final dunk. Dominique throws down a perfect, two handed, windmill dunk. Score: 45…. even Michael Jordan said ” I was shocked….I would have given him a 49 or 50″

   Michael Jordan’s turn….runs length of court and jumps from free throw line, but his foot is clearly IN FRONT OF THE LINE . Score: a PERFECT 50….Jordan wins.

   Michael Jordan: “If it wasn’t in Chicago, it would have gone the other way”.

   ___________________

   1996 All Star Game

   Shaq: 25 points/ 10 rebounds

   Jordan: 20 points, sits out entire 4th quarter

   All Star MVP?……you guessed it, Michael Jordan
   ______________________

   1998 Season

   Karl Malone: 27 ppg/ 10.3 rpg/ 3.9 apg/ 70 blocks/96 steals/ 53% fg

   Leads Utah to a 62-20 record

   Mikey Jordan: 28.7 ppg/ 5.8 rpg/ 3.5 apg/ 45 blocks/ 141 steals/ 46% fg

   Leads Chicago to a 62-20 record

   League MVP?….that’s right….Mikey Jordan

   Malone beats Jordan in 4 out of 6 categories, including assists ( Malone is a power forward, Jordan is a guard), and the media gives Jordan the MVP…..jeeeesh!!!!
   _______________________

   The 1997-98 NBA All-Defensive Team:

   f- Scottie Pippen
   f- Karl Malone
   c- Dikembe Mutumbo
   g- Gary Payton
   g- MICHAEL JORDAN??????????????????

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wd8ZoaTJtg

   He can’t even guard a rookie, and he’s first team all defense?!?!

   Now, get back in “mrkeef’s” pocket……………..

   Reply

Leave a Reply