It was a tough week for Kobe Bryant with that two-game suspension, a reported dispute with teammate Lamar Odom and a three-game stretch during which the Lakers had a chance to win or tie each at the buzzer but lost all three.
Bryant’s suspension came for a retaliatory elbow on the Grizzlies’ Mike Miller after a Miller elbow opened a big gash over Bryant’s left eye. This came just a few days after Bryant and Dwyane Wade were guarding and elbowing one another in the Christmas Day game. Like Jerry Sloan and Scott Skiles, I, too, yearn for the good old days. What’s an elbow or two between opponents? At least it shows they care.
The disappearing marquee matchup is a big problem for the NBA. It seems rare these days to see a star player take on the challenge of guarding the other team’s best player. Usually there are thinly veiled excuses of not wanting to get in foul trouble and various forms of help defenses that didn’t exist years ago, but you don’t often see LeBron James, Tracy McGrady or Vince Carter defend the other team’s premier scorer. Bryant will do it, and Tim Duncan does it in epic battles with Kevin Garnett.
A smart NBA coach reminded me of what Al McGuire once said: “The second best feeling in the world is losing.”
McGuire understood the thrill of competition, which is missing too often in the NBA. Rather than thriving on the competition of matching up against the best, players shrink from the effort it takes and fear the results. That’s why there are so few true superstars anymore. It’s why players like Bryant and Wade are special. And it reminded me of some of the best one-on-one matchups the game has seen and how rarely we see battles like that anymore:
Wilt Chamberlain-Bill Russell. Perhaps the best rivalry ever in a time when they would go against each other at least a dozen times a season, the game’s best offensive center against its best defensive center. There were flashes when Hakeem Olajuwon played David Robinson, and I’d loved to have seen Bill Walton healthier longer to have faced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar more.
Michael Jordan-Dominique Wilkins. They were the two premier scorers in their era and put on some of the best combined offensive displays of the 1980s. One usually would go for 50 against the other, and it wasn’t always Jordan.
Walt Frazier-Earl Monroe. The late ’60s and early ’70s Knicks-Bullets matchups and playoff series were some of the best ever with classic battles at every position. Wes Unseld-Willis Reed was terrific along with Dave DuBusschere-Gus Johnson, but there was nothing quite like the magical Monroe, the first true streetballer, going against the cool, classic defensive ace and high-scoring Frazier.
Larry Bird-Julius Erving. Erving would have been too much for Bird when Dr. J was in the ABA in the 1970s, and neither was a great defender. But when they finally were matched in some great 76ers-Celtics series, it was two of the classic players of their era taking on the challenge.
Sam Jones-Hal Greer. I remember some Oscar Robertson and Jerry West matchups, but the two best guards of their era didn’t play one another much. Jones and Greer were overshadowed on their teams but were relentless scorers whose side battles were some of the best.
Not so hot
The early returns on the Detroit-Miami matchup last week in their expected battle to be the Eastern representative in the Finals suggest Heat coach Pat Riley made a mistake in revamping his 59-win team with Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, Jason Williams and James Posey. Without shooters Eddie Jones and Damon Jones, the Pistons were able to help more on Shaquille O’Neal and effectively take him out of the game down the stretch.
The Artest watch
No one quite knows where Ron Artest will end up, including the Indiana Pacers. It hasn’t expedited the process that Atlanta won a few games and doesn’t seem to want to deal Al Harrington. Plus players who were being discussed, like Sacramento’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Peja Stojakovic, have been hurt. With Marcus Camby out indefinitely after hand surgery, the Nuggets might not have enough to make a major deal. The latest is that Denver could trade Earl Watson to Seattle for shooting guard Ronald Murray.
Golden State, the league’s poorest defensive team for weeks, still seems like a team in need of Artest’s services with Baron Davis and Jason Richardson firing away without regard on three-pointers. Though he is a favorite of general manager Chris Mullin, Mike Dunleavy Jr. remains under verbal assault from Bay Area fans. He finally exploded last week, gesturing to and condemning fans. Mullin may feel forced to go with a defensive stopper like Artest to salvage the season. Dunleavy could be a good fit for the team-oriented Pacers, though they could be reluctant to take on his big contract. The deal likely would be expanded to include Adonal Foyle and perhaps Jeff Foster or Austin Croshere.
And with the Lakers in the running, wouldn’t you like to see Artest with Bryant? That’s one teammate Bryant wouldn’t intimidate.
Artest, Part II
The most interesting part of comments from Bird, the Pacers’ general manager, about Artest was Bird’s revelation of a preseason meeting when the players asked to remain together. “They thought this was their year as a team,” Bird said. “Stephen [Jackson ], Ronnie and Jermaine [O’Neal] came up to me and asked if I would keep them together for one more year and see how it goes. I was behind it 100 percent.” Sounds like everyone will soon be available. O’Neal for Garnett next summer? Chris Bosh?
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There I go again. But here was Garnett to the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week when asked about the team trading for Artest: “It doesn’t matter what I think half the time. They’re going to do it (trade for Artest), or they’re not going to do it. I have no choice. I don’t make decisions around here. I guess I’ve just got to live with it till the summer gets here.”
Celtic pride, er, slide
An adviser to Boston GM Danny Ainge is a doctor who studies so-called brain typing. That was supposed to be one of the reasons Ainge signed Brian Scalabrine last summer for $15 million. Scalabrine, now being booed in Boston, is supposed to have the same brain type as Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Bird.
Meanwhile, Ainge is under fire for the Celtics’ continued decline. “I think the blame is on everybody,” said Ainge, now traveling with the team. “But if you can’t improve defensively, if you can’t improve in limiting turnovers, then you need a change in personnel.”
A big, perimeter scorer like Paul Pierce would be just the ticket for the Bulls, and Ainge long has wanted to pursue his goal of a young, running, old-time Celtics-like team. Would Boston take the best of the Bulls’ draft picks, or even both, as part of a deal? Would it be enough for the Bulls, whose inside presence is weak?
Double dribbles
Stephon Marbury and Larry Brown have stopped talking. Meantime, the New York media keeps daily track of Marbury’s claim a year ago that he is the league’s best point guard. The Knicks have gone 24-57 since. . . . After Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko combined on a key play for the Jazz, Sloan said it’s because they are friends and talk. Sloan’s advice to his team: “Take your headphones off and become teammates. Running around with your headphones on all the time, you never get to know who they are. You may pass the ball to them a bit more often.” . . . Williams, now coming off the bench, and former teammate Luther Head, now starting for the injury-riddled Rockets, met last week as the Jazz won with Williams 3-for-10 and Head 3-for-12. . . .
Sometimes a man has to stand up for what he believes. The Pacers’ Stephen Jackson said he’s appealing his $20,000 fine for allegedly making an obscene gesture with his finger because he says he didn’t. Jackson said he merely bitterly and derisively cursed out the referee. . . . Kings forward Kenny Thomas called the local sports radio station to defend himself against criticism about his offense and then scored 29 in replacing the injured Abdur-Rahim. . . . Pat Riley set the record last week for earliest whine for a playoff foul call. After the Christmas Day game, he said he was considering bringing in sumo wrestlers to work with Shaquille O’Neal because of the way everyone leans on him.
Last shots
After Saturday’s game in Denver, the Spurs players blew out of their locker room without showering so their plane could get out of town with a storm approaching. . . . Rumors of Carter’s demise (trade) seem to have a lot to do with Carter averaging more than 30 per game as the Nets won eight straight. . . . Everyone’s dream acquisition remains Bosh, who is growing ever more frustrated. Last week he was seen waving off his Toronto teammates trying to pass to him when they seemed to run the wrong play. . . .
With Damon Stoudamire out for the season with a knee injury, the Grizzlies are looking for a point guard. . . . With teams able to sign players to 10-day contracts starting Thursday, look for some Bulls’ tryouts with a roster spot open. . . . Even though they had injuries to key players early last season, the Nuggets changed coaches with the team two games under .500 after 28 games. With the team now further under .500 at about the same juncture, maybe they can get Jeff Bzdelik to coach? Bzdelik went to the Air Force Academy, which started 12-1.