This recent month's basketball news is literally 'hard to swallow'. Implied by the title of this post, I take it all in with certain precaution that my brain does not not explode all over the walls and floor, knowing full well this is inappropriate. The opening of the NBA free agency period certainly did not ask a spot light to leave everyone's favorite league, despite the FIFA World Cup cropping all the sporting world's attention. Wimbledon also figures into the mix, with Rafael Nadal, sans Roger Federer, and Serena Williams winning it all again. It took me several days to analyze everything, so I'd like to wrap everything up, with a little bow tie to boot.
As of my general lack of knowledge with the rest of the sports in the world, I apologize in advance if this blog seems all 'basketball' and nothing else. Certainly, you'd give a guy a break if all he does in his free time is write a blog and read insane numbers of readings, right?
1. The new triumvirate- Cleveland fans must have bled bloody tears and weeped several more after hearing their 'dear' LeBron James will be leaving the Cavaliers after 7 years of not winning a title. In fact, the owner of the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert was so embittered by the announcement that he posted a public letter on the team site how much of a 'sore loser' the King was. Now, I'm only paraphrasing how much of the letter I have read (which is close to null), but that's the general feel of it. With a new lease on NBA life and renewed aspirations to Be Like Mike, the King (or should I say, the new Batman to Dwayne Wade's Superman) changed his jersey number finally to no. 6, which should have been retired in honor of Eddie Jones, who played for around 5 years with the team. I wonder how his mustache is doing.
LeBron himself considered it a done deal when another All-Star in Chris Bosh signed on with the Miami Heat, the future place for championship rallies for the years to come. Dwayne Wade will be seeing more championship rings on his hands if the new star trio will stay away from injuries and learn to play in an offense where they can no longer "ball hog". And on that note, the Heat only have to fill up 11 roster spots with guaranteed contracts, with the 4th locked-in player as Mario Chalmers.
I hope to see these more soon.
2. Two sides of the same coin- Besides 'Bron and CB1 finding new homes, other free agents in the NBA could not pass up the chance to make big splashes too. And boy, did they make big ones. A couple of multi-million signings here, some messed up ones over there, and it is possible that we have now one of the most exciting free agency periods the league has had in the past couple of years.I would like to point out two particular contract signings that are of two polar natures: one is sensible and positive while the other is vague and stupid. I'm not going to hold back much on the bleeps when it comes to the latter deal because the honest side within me does not agree fully to my good side.
Amar'e Stoudemire signed a 5-year, 100 million dollar contract with the New York Knicks. Those that only look at the recent records of the team may see this as a bad move for STAT.
'Oh well, there goes a great PF in his prime.'
'My gosh, what is he doing with his life and talent?!'
In actuality, this may be a good idea. The Knicks are in rebuilding mode, losing David Lee, there only bright spot last year, to the Golden State Warriors with a sign-and-trade and unloading some bad contracts. They have a few good pieces they could surround Amar'e with, and if he is serious about signing with NYC and having a plan, then golly, the man must be serious. All he needs now is a point guard (luckily, they have one in Raymond Felton) and winter gear. If he was only able to court someone from the Rockies and the Southwest successfully then cheering at the Garden wouldn't be such a bad idea now after all.
On the other hand, Joe Johnson, the on-and-off star guard for the Atlanta Hawks signed a ridiculous 6-year, 123.7 million dollar deal that can cripple any franchise's financials. I guess with deep pockets for an owner, money is technically not a problem. But here's the deal: Why would you sign a 29-year old, 6"7 swingman who's known to jack up so many three-pointers, fade in the playoffs and commit too many turnovers in the clutch? Sure, he may be of star quality and he is reaching his prime, but you do not break a deal like in an economic climate such as ours, today. With a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and not much promise for the team in the coming months before training camp, plus no head coach, you're looking at a promising group of playoff performers on the downside. Well, at least they signed the guy who dunked on LeBron a couple of summers ago.
There's more Free Agency left to swallow for the coming weeks. Hope everything does not end up tasting bitter.
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