Kobe Bryant takes on a 2-year old shooting and doesn't win.
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: I know it's only for fun and I know it means nothing, but you know Michael Jordan would never have lost to that kid.
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32 years ago today, Dr. J was king.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, making him the only player to win MVP honors in both the NBA and the ABA.
To this day, only a handful of players have revolutionized the entire game, not just the NBA, the way Dr. J did. And not just in terms of on the court success, of which he had plenty, but in terms of personal style. Dr. J was the alpha male of his era and even if you knew nothing about basketball, just seeing the way he floated across the court, told you he was the man everyone else wanted to be.
Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA's Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined).
And he wasn't just a finesse scoring type of player- Dr J was mean and reflected the era in which he played. Case in point, his fight with Larry Bird:
Erving was inducted in 1993 into the Basketball Hall of Fame and was also named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team. In 1994, Erving was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 most important athletes of all time.
For crying out loud, the term "slam" dunk was coined to describe the way Erving attacked the rim. Before him, dunking was a practice usually among big men to show their dominance, strength and physicality. There was no art or style to it. The dunk was judged by many as style over substance and unsportsmanlike. Erving, however, changed that misconception and turned the dunk into the most exciting, expressive shot in the game. The "slam dunk" became an art form and came to help popularize the sport.
With no Dr. J, there would be no Michael Jordan, no Charles Barkley, no Kobe, and certainly no LeBron James.
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Kobe Bryant has been all over Twitter since he joined a few months back, and on Tuesday, decided to tweet a pretty graphic image of his achilles surgery from a month ago.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: If you get a little queesy, you might not want to look at this picture. We warned you.
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The NBA Finals are where new stars are born and new styles are formed.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: An entire year of league history is compressed into and remembered by the outcome of the NBA Finals.
2009-2010 LA Lakers vs. Boston Celtics - 7 Games
The NBA needed this Finals from a business standpoint as much as anything else. Interest in the game was waining and the league was struggling financially. So what was the best recipe to get the league to be relevant and exciting again? A classic match-up between the Lakers and Celtics, which the Lakers won.
1993-1994 Houston Rockets vs. New York Knicks- 7 Games
This was as grueling an NBA Finals in history. Both teams were rugged, relied on tough defense and games were low scoring. Every possession was hotly contested and featured even personnel match-ups across the board, most notably reigning MVP Hakeem Olajuwon versus Patrick Ewing. The Rockets prevailed and won back to back titles, starting with this one.
1987-1988 LA Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons - 7 Games
The Lakers won this series in the ultimate stylistic clash between the finesse "Showtime" Lakers and the physical, brutish Pistons. Between 1980-1989 the Lakers won five titles, including this series versus the Pistons.This series represented a shift in NBA style of play. Even though the Lakers won and continued their dominance in this series, the Pistons swept the Finals the following season against the Lakers and eventually won two and a row, giving birth to the "Bad Boys" and their imposing style, a style that would be picked up and empolyed by NBA teams moving forward.
1979-1980 LA Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers - 6 Games
This series was all about the emergence of Magic Johnson. Magic changed the NBA game forever as the Lakers "Showtime" style was born. Instead of plodding half court sets that had been the norm, the Lakers relied on the transition game and became the most dominant team of the era, changing the entire direction of the league.
1973-1974 Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks - 7 Games
This series was littered with several future NBA Hall of Fame players who not only evolved their respective positions, but brought the game to a new level. The Bucks featured Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while the Celtics had Dave Cowens and John Havlicek. Abdul-Jabbar was so dominant the Celtics frequently triple teamed him when he got the ball. The strategy paid off as the C's prevailed in seven games.
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Kobe Bryant has been dealing with a lot lately, including having to sit out the playoffs with a torn achilles only to watch his team get swept by the Spurs in the first round.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: Now he's in a court battle with his own mother.
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While the Lakers were battling the Spurs on the court in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs on Sunday, Kobe Bryant was playing Twitter-coach from his Orange County pad.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: It was pretty obvious in the post game press conference that Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't a fan of Kobe's tweets. Wonder how Phil would've handled it?
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Of all the drama surrounding the Lakers this season, this is the final act.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: A fitting end to one of the worst Laker seasons in history.
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Currently, the Lakers are in possession of the Western Conference's eighth seed by one game over the Utah Jazz.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: If the Lakers don't make it, they have at least five legitimate reasons why they failed.
Firing of Mike Brown, Hiring of Mike D'Antoni, Not Hiring Phil Jackson
After five games, the Lakers brass fired Mike Brown. But before he got fired, they forced him to employ the "Princeton Offense," an offense that never got properly instituted because of injuries to nearly every key player in the preseason. Brown was out, but who would replace him? For several days, Phil Jackson was going to be re-hired, it looked like a foregone conclusion. But under the cover of night, late on a Sunday evening, the Lakers announced they would hire D'Antoni instead. As the season has now almost completely played itself out, they couldn't have been any worse if they would've just retained Bernie Bickerstaff for the entire season, who won four of his five games as head coach.
Injuries
Every significant player on the team was injured at some point this season. Steve Nash, Kobe, Dwight Howard, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol- and those are just the starters. The bench was equally ravaged. Robert Sacre, Devin Ebanks, Jordan Hill, Steve Blake; and that's the short list. No wonder they haven't had any chemistry all year.
Lack Of Pau Gasol
Gasol's head wasn't right all season. And yours wouldn't have been either if your name was Pau Gasol. No one has taken more of a beating for being "soft". But if he was soft, Gasol wouldn't have two rings and a slew of all-star appearances. So what does he get for his trouble? He gets benched for Earl Clark by D'Antoni, who was trying to assert his power to "motivate" Gasol. That was a "bass-akward" thing to do. To make it worse, D'Antoni did it when the Lakers rotation was being held together with duct tape. If he was healthy, the Lakers should've squeezed every last second out of him.
Where Was "Ron Ron" All Year?
I get that "Ron Ron" has decided to completely give up on scoring. I get that he fancies himself a lockdown one on one defender. But for a guy who has scored over 20+ ppg in his career, for him to not be more involved offensively (and I don't mean hoisting up three's from the corner, which has become his signature offensive move), I mean getting involved and productive when the team needed him. He didn't, so Kobe had to carry the squad, and still is, like always.
Dwight Howard Saga
I don't care what Howard's numbers are, or if Andrew Bynum missed the entire season- Howard killed the Lakers with his endless, me first drama. It started before he got traded to LA, then continued once he arrived because of "injuries" and a bunch of other excuses. Dwight Howard is a drama queen and softer than Pau Gasol- FACT.
For more news, info and updates, follow us on Twitter @hoopsvibe
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is creating a media stir once again, and this time, it's by saying he would draft Baylor University women's basketball star Brittney Griner.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: Either Cuban knows something we don't or he's just completely messing with all of us.
Kobey Bryant moves to 4th on the all-time points list topping Chamberlain. Where on the list will he finish?
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: He won't finish first, but really records always appear less important when you're struggling to make the playoffs.
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This may be Kobe's 17th NBA season but he still has ridiculous hops.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: At this point in his career, do we take Kobe Bryant for granted?
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Basketball is a team sport, but when two studs lock horns, the other players on the court recede from view.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: So many great rivalries, so little time!
Today, Gatorade released an ad for it's new product "Fixation",which features Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade squaring off, each player dreaming of a different outcome when they meet one and each other on the floor.
So it got me thinking: Who are the best one on one match-ups in NBA history?
Here are the first batlles that came to mind.
Shaquille O'Neal vs. Hakeem Olajuwon
Their match-up in the 1995 NBA Finals has been washed asunder by the tides of history, but at the time, this may have been the best duel I have ever witness. Hakeem was paying the best basketball of his career this season (in the playoffs particularly)and maybe the best stretch for any center in NBA history. Shaq led the NBA in scoring this season (29.3 ppg) and was in the midst of establishing himself as the most physically dominant center ever. In the Finals, Hakeem averaged 32.8 ppg and Shaq scored 28.0 ppg.
Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In the conversation about the best center of all-time, these two names are really the only two at the top of the list- it's really just a question of who is 1a and who is 1b.This excellent article breaks it down, blow by blow, and concludes that Wilt is the victor.
They played against each other 27 times, including 11 games in the playoffs of 1971 and 1972. In their first 11 meetings, Chamberlain was still able to (i.e. inclined to) score with Jabbar. In those first 11 games, Wilt averaged 22.8 ppg and 17.6 rebounds, while Kareem averaged 26.0 ppg and 15.6 rebounds.
50 ppg, 30.1 ppg over his career, 23 rebounds/game over his career, the only non-guard ever to lead the league in assists, 100 points in one game, the list goes on...Wilt was simply more dominating.
Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James
This is absolutely the most exciting match-up in the current NBA, with both players battling every night for supremacy. In five playoff games (last year's NBA Finals), KD outscored LBJ 30.6 ppg to 28.6 ppg. But James dominated in every other statistical category and also won the title, by a margin of 4-1. In 11 regular season match-ups it's the same story; Durant averages 29.0 to LBJ's 28.1, "Bron Bron" has the edge in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks and has won nine of the 11 games. "Durantula" has some work to do, potentially in this years NBA Finals.
Dominique Wilkins vs. Michael Jordan
Of their era, these were the two most athletically gifted, electrifying players. WIlkins at times, looked like he almost had too much energy for his body, while MJ was always smooooooth. In 45 career games against each other, Jordan won 27 while "Nique" won 18. MJ averaged 31.6, while Wilkins poured in 29.8 as both players had almost identical stat lines. In one playoff series that the Bulls swept, Jordan averaged 34.3, 6.7 rpg, 4.3 apg to Nique's 30.0, 5.3 rpg and 3.0 apg.
Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordan
The significance of this rivalry isn't as much about the head to head play, though that was extremely entertaining, but about what it meant to the league- was it not old MJ versus a young version of himself? Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan played each other 8 times, four when Jordan was with the Chicago Bulls and 4 when he was with the Washington Wizards. The Lakers won 5 of those games. Across these games, Bryant scored an average of 22.8 points, while Jordan scored 24.5 points.
Oh,old man Jordan still has it.
What's your top five?
For more news, info and updates, follow us on Twitter @hoopsvibe
In the most recent data gathered, Lebron James topped the list of the NBA's most popular jerseys.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: Here is the list of the top 5 most popular NBA jerseys.
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17 years ago today, MJ became just the tenth player in NBA history to eclipse the 24,000 point plateau.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: Another day at the office, another milestone for Michael Jordan at that point in his career.
Who'd have thought at the time, that 17 years later to the day, he'd have a bogus paternity suit against him dropped?
Against the Philadelphia 76ers at the United Center, Jordan poured in 38 points on 15 of 32 shooting as the Bulls won 98-94. The victory pushed the Chicago's record to 58-7. The Jordan led Bulls would ultimately set an NBA precedent for greatness that year, setting the all-time single season mark for victories in a season with 72.
Prior to Jordan, only nine players in the history of the league had scored at least 24,000 points- Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Moses Malone, Jerry West, Elvin Hayes, Oscar Robertson, George Gervin and Alex English.
Before it was all said and done, Jordan scored 32,292 points and retired having scored the third most points in NBA history. In 15 professional seasons, he led the NBA in scoring 10 times, including seven years in a row and 10 times in 11 seasons (!).
Kobe Bean Bryant is just 995 points away from tying MJ and wresting third place from his trophy case- as if Jordan even cares.
Since MJ got his 24,000th point in 1996, the accomplishment has become more commonplace. Currently, a total of 19 players (nine post-Jordan) have scored 24,000+ points, including Allen Iverson, Kobe, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing and Kevin Garnett.
Boston's Paul Pierce is just 223 points short, and former Celtic/current Heat guard Ray Allen is right behind him, just 145 points less than Pierce.
While all the other players on this list are great scorers, no one was more electrifying than Michael Jordan.
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Cavs star Kyrie Irving will be sidelined for a month; while Pau Gasol's return could be right around the corner.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: The Lakers are in good position to make a playoff run; the Cavs probably wouldn't have made the postseason with Irving; they are definitely out now.
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LeBron and the Heat have won 17 in a row, but they've got their work cut out if they want to break this record.
HoopsVibe Very Quick Call: The Heat are currently tied for the 12th longest winning streak in NBA history.
The current 17 game streak is tied with the Clippers for longest winning streak this season. But, both are just slightly more than half as long as the all-time best.
33, LA Lakers 1971-'72
The Lakers didn't lose a game for over two months, going a combined 30-0 in November and December. Led by Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Pat Riley and Jim McMillian (and including former Phil Jackson assistant coach Jim Cleamons), the 1971-72 Lakers are arguably the greatest team of all time.
22, Houston Rockets 2007-'08
You may be surprised to know that the second longest winning streak is 22 held by the Houston Rockets in 2007-08. Nobody expected anything out of the Rockets that year and they somehow went off before showing "they are who we thought they were" and losing in the first round of the playoffs. Sadly for T-Mac and Yao, this was the height of their time together.
20, Washington Capitols 1947-'48 thru 1948-'49
The Capitols were part of the Basketball Association of America before being absorbed into the NBA in 1949. Not coincidentally, the team was led by NBA Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach, who led the squad from 1946-'49. The team won 20 games through two seasons.
20, Milwaukee Bucks 1970-'71
Already boasting Lew Alcindor at center, the Bucks acquired Oscar Robertson in a trade and found immediate success. The Bucks set a franchise record for wins that season (66) that still stands and won the NBA title in their third year of existence, the fastest for an expansion team in NBA history. The 20 game win streak was exceeded a year later by the same Lakers team that leads this list. Interestingly, this Bucks squad beat that Lakers team and snapped their NBA record 33 game win streak.
19, LA Lakers 1999-'00
In Phil Jackson's first year as coach, the Lakers started the season by winning 31 of their first 36 games, which included a 16 game winning streak. Later in the season, from February 4th to March 16th, LA won 19 in a row. After that loss, the Shaq and Kobe led squadron won another 11 in a row and earlier in the year also had a seven game streak. One of the best teams in NBA history, LA won the title by beating the Pacers 4-2.
19, Boston Celtics 2008-'09
The Celtics started out 27-2, including the 19 game win streak, and also had a 10 game streak to their credit. Boston won 62 games but lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs after Kevin Garnett was injured and missed most of the second half of the season. The first round seven game series versus the Bulls is arguably the greatest playoff series in NBA history.
Just two more wins would put the Heat into the top five. Four more wins would make their streak the second longest in NBA history. 16 more (man, that's a ton of games!) Would tie them with the Lakers for longest streak ever- think they can do it?
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Gotta love that it's Friday!
Hoopsvibe's quick call: What a better way to kick off the weekend than with three top NBA stories in Hoopsvibe's Workweek Wrap-Up?!
To start things off, word on the street is, Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony and Basketball Wife La La Vasquez are not just back together, but moving into a ballerific apartment in New York City. Click here to check out the clip courtesy of TMZ.com.
The couple signed a $29,000 per month lease last week on a 4,000 square foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment on NYC's iconic 5th Avenue. The New York Post reported that the apartment is owned by Bank of America exec Fares Noujaim, "who bought it for $6.08 million as an investment."
Rumor had it that Melo and La La were going through a rough patch and the two were even living on different coasts for a period of time. But it sounds like things are back on track. One thing's for sure: They're certainly not slummin' it.
#YouKnowYoureBallinWhen you drop 30k on a lease.
Anthony is currently listed as day-to-day due to fluid in his knee that has caused him to miss the past few games. Melo's averaging 28.2 points per game this season and the Knicks are currently first place in their division and second overall in the Eastern Conference.
Speaking of the Eastern Conference, Chicago Bulls fans rejoice!
Derrick Rose has been medically cleared to play.
According to Melissa Isaacson of ESPNChicago, the Bulls' point guard, who's been out for almost a year since going down with a knee injury in the first round of last year's playoffs, has been given clearance to return to the lineup.
But don't expect the All-Star point guard to return immediately, because according to Issacson and the Bulls, Rose isn't "100% mentally ready" to return just yet. Isaacson cites in her report that Rose is participating in 5 on 5 drills and looking strong, but neither the organization or Rose himself are going to pressure an immediate return, despite how much President Obama and every other Bulls fan wants to see their franchise player back in the lineup.
Regardless if Rose takes an extra few weeks to prepare mentally, we should definitely see his return to the court before the playoffs; which would obviously be crucial for Chicago. According to Accuscore, the Bulls are more than five times as likely to win the NBA title with Rose than without him.
The Bulls don't need to rush either. They have been playing impressively well in his absence. Despite Rose not having played in one game all season, they are 34-27 and currently hold the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Furthermore, Rose inked a 5-year, $94 million deal with the team in 2011; so it's much better to be safe than sorry.
And lastly, to round out the Workweek Wrap-up, we have Kobe Bryant getting clowned on by Jimmy Kimmel ... and loving it!
Kobe was on Kimmel Thursday night and at one point in the interview, the two talked took some time to discuss Dennis Rodman's friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
(On a side note, does everyone out there realize that Dennis Rodman aka "The Worm" aka a lot of insane things, is pretty much acting as the United States Ambassador to North Korea??? I mean, it sounds like a joke but the joke is really that it's not a joke. I'm starting to think the Mayans were right.)
Anyway ... When Kimmel asked Bryant if he would consider heading over to N. Korea if Jong Un asked him to, Kobe replied, "Yeah, I would probably pass. I'd probably pass."
To which the witty talk show host quickly retorted, "Oh, for once you're passing?!" It was so hilarious even Kobe cracked up!
And that's the Workweek Wrap-up. Have a great weekend, Hoopsvibers!
And for more NBA stories and hilarious videos follow us on twitter @hoopsvibe
Kobe Bryant delivers a message to Mark Cuban.
HoopsVibe's Very Quick Call: Careful when you play with the Black Mamba. He might bite back.
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According to Kobe Bryant, whether or not the Lakers make the playoffs isn't even a concern.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: Kobe has often lacked a supporting cast, but he's never lacked confidence. On or off the court.
The basketball community changed forever Monday with the passing of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
Hoopsvibe's quick call: Perhaps the greatest NBA owner in history left a lasting legacy behind.
Here are ten interesting facts about a man who was amongst the best the business has ever seen.
1.) Buss bought the Lakers, along the Los Angeles Kings Hockey team, The Forum, and a large ranch in Kern County, from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for $67.5 million. The team itself is now worth $1 billion.
2.) The Laker Girls was his idea.
3.) He has six children, who all have roles within the Lakers organization. Their names are Jim, Jeannie, Johnny, Joey, Jesse and Janie. Jim currently runs basketball operations and daughter, Jeannie, runs business operations.
4.) His daughter, Jeannie, is currently engaged to Hall of Fame coach and former player, Phil Jackson. And apparently, Jim Buss hasn't spoken to Jeannie since their engagement.
5.) Buss was an avid poker player, appearing on the shows High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. He placed third in the 1991 World Series of Poker seven-card stud event.
6.) Buss is incredibly smart. In high school he was entrusted to teach his chemistry class senior year. He got his Bachelors degree from the University of Wyoming in 2.5 years, reportedly borrowing his friends books at the beginning of the semester because he didn't have enough money to buy his own. He would read the books, and return them halfway through the semester, with enough knowledge to pass the final exams.
7.) He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California and worked in aerospace and real estate before becoming Lakers owner.
8.) He was raised in poverty in Wyoming. He first came to LA when he was 9, but moved back to Wyoming after his mother remarried. There he worked as a ditch-digger, a bellhop and a shoe shiner.
9.) Under his ownership the Lakers won 10 Championships; and have seen the likes of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard, to name a few.
10.) There are many other interesting facts about Jerry Buss but my all-time favorite is this: Buss told ESPN in 2010 that he texted each of his six children every month the following question: "Do you have any idea how proud of you I am?"
In the words of Kobe Bryant, "His impact is felt worldwide."
I couldn't agree more.
For more interesting NBA facts follow us on twitter @hoopsvibe