Basketball Fiend

Posts Tagged ‘criticism’

Photo courtesy of NewsOK.com.

1. Kevin Durant fires back at blogger Henry Abbott in response to comments made in a recent True Hoop article that Durant is “killing his team” with poor +/- numbers. “What more do u want?” Durant responded on Twitter.

2. Hot rumor: Chris Bosh is headed to the Warriors for a package including Andris Biedrins. I’m not giving credence to this rumor - it is, after all, just speculation - but this could be a beneficial deal for the Raptors. Biedrins is an excellent rebounder and an underrated defender, both needs for the Raptors. He’s also under contract for 4 years at $9 million per, with a player option for the fifth year. In other words, he’s a relative bargain. Don’t freak out, Toronto.

3. Chris Paul talks about the impact Michael Jordan has had on his life. There are a lot of competitive players in the League, but I think Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and CP3 are the closest in terms of competitive fire to His Airness. It makes sense then that Paul has modeled his career after MJ.

4. Highlights from Monday’s Cavaliers-Olympiakos game, courtesy of Ball Don’t Lie. Includes: LeBron James doing his thing (block of the night, dunk of the night, etc.) as well as Shaq dunking on Sofoklis “Baby Shaq” Schortsanitis. Good stuff.

5. Departed basketball legend and noted playboy Wilt Chamberlain’s former house is on the market. Recent owners may have removed many of the “kinky details” of Wilt’s mansion, but good news, potential buyers, the original pool table is still in place. The mansion fetched $6.5 million last year. Think it’s still worth that much? (H/T Both Teams Played Hard.)

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Hornets center Tyson Chandler, who was traded yesterday to the Thunder for veteran forwards Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox and the rights to rookie DeVon Hardin, failed his physical on Wednesday, prompting the Thunder to void the trade.

Though the details of the failed physical have yet to be released, the cause is almost certainly the sprained ankle that held Chandler out of the Hornets’ lineup before the All-Star break.

This latest development may mean that the Hornets have dodged a bullet. Had the move gone through, it would have been the NBA equivalent of Marvel dropping Samuel L. Jackson from Iron Man 2 for money reasons.

Similarly, New Orleans’ general manager Jeff Bower appears to have traded Chandler strictly for financial purposes (Smith and Wilcox both have expiring contracts and Chandler is owed $12 million next season). If executed, the move likely would have removed the team from title contention.

Although the Hornets now have to cope with Chandler’s lingering injury - not to mention his oversized contract - his presence in the middle does give the team a better chance to be competitive.

David West, for one, is happy to have Chandler back on the Hornets. Following the trade, West voiced his concern over what he dubbed a business decision - rather than a basketball decision - saying, 

“This move has nothing to do with basketball. It was strictly a business decision. Using some common sense, that’s what it came down to. I was hoping that all of it was a rumor. We have now become one of the smaller teams, and we really have put ourselves back in the situation we were in two years ago when we had a big hole in the middle.”  

Given the financial nature of the trade, it’s realistic to imagine that West spoke for many of his teammates in voicing his displeasure.

Now that Chandler is back with the team, the Hornets will again be a threat in the East. Although he has lost some of his effectiveness this season, Chandler’s return signifies a return to prominence for New Orleans. He is one of the best young centers in the league and he has great chemistry with Chris Paul.