2012-13 NBA Season Thread

[Nyk33]

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Lakers. The league doesn't hate them at all.

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Heat. And it didn't obliterate a trade to them because of "basketball reasons."

And it wasn't a series which was rigged, it was one game. Kings had more free throws overall in the series and only Bibby didn't implode in Game 7.

And the NBA did it to pocket more cash from a Game 7 between the ratings-jackpot Lakers and Kings. Give me an example of the NBA doing something because it adores the Lakers.

Also, David Stern once said that his ideal Finals series would be "The Lakers vs. The Lakers". Does that sound like a guy that has an anti-Laker agenda.

Nah, that sounds like someone who's with the times. Anything to make him revenue for the league, any juicy plotline that'll have people talking and watching the NBA. It turned from Magic/Larry, then Jordan, then Kobe/Shaq, followed by "dark times" (Spurs in the mid 2000s), then Lakers/Celtics III, and now the "Miami Death Star."

I wouldn't be surprised if Stern mumbled in his sleep today, "my dream Finals is the Heat vs. the Heat."

You just contradicted yourself.

If the Lakers are such a large revenue machine that David Stern would say that he wants a Lakers vs Lakers finals then he clearly does not hate them.

Now stop being an imbecile for the sake of everyone.

[Nyk33]

That Knicks-Heat contest was a glorified scrimmage with LeBron, Wade, & Amare being out along with Chandler playing limited minutes.

I feel nothing even though the Knicks won.

[rams80]

That Knicks-Heat contest was a glorified scrimmage with LeBron, Wade, & Amare being out along with Chandler playing limited minutes.

I feel nothing even though the Knicks won.

I hope both teams were fined.

[Nyk33]

That Knicks-Heat contest was a glorified scrimmage with LeBron, Wade, & Amare being out along with Chandler playing limited minutes.

I feel nothing even though the Knicks won.

I hope both teams were fined.

Amare is seriously hurt and may not make it back for the playoffs, also this is Chandler's first game back from an injury.

[cshookemHORNS]

And the NBA did it to pocket more cash from a Game 7 between the ratings-jackpot Lakers and Kings. Give me an example of the NBA doing something because it adores the Lakers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YZatX_6i5WY

If that isn't concrete evidence, I don't know what is.

[dbadefense1990]

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Lakers. The league doesn't hate them at all.

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Heat. And it didn't obliterate a trade to them because of "basketball reasons."

And it wasn't a series which was rigged, it was one game. Kings had more free throws overall in the series and only Bibby didn't implode in Game 7.

And the NBA did it to pocket more cash from a Game 7 between the ratings-jackpot Lakers and Kings. Give me an example of the NBA doing something because it adores the Lakers.

Also, David Stern once said that his ideal Finals series would be "The Lakers vs. The Lakers". Does that sound like a guy that has an anti-Laker agenda.

Nah, that sounds like someone who's with the times. Anything to make him revenue for the league, any juicy plotline that'll have people talking and watching the NBA. It turned from Magic/Larry, then Jordan, then Kobe/Shaq, followed by "dark times" (Spurs in the mid 2000s), then Lakers/Celtics III, and now the "Miami Death Star."

I wouldn't be surprised if Stern mumbled in his sleep today, "my dream Finals is the Heat vs. the Heat."

You just contradicted yourself.

If the Lakers are such a large revenue machine, that David Stern would say that he wants a Lakers vs Lakers finals, then he clearly does not hate them.

No. What I meant was that Stern hates things that don't make extra revenue for the league. That infamous comment spewed by Stern was at the peak of the Kobe/Shaq conglomerate. Of course the commissioner would play kindly to these Lakers because it would have people taking about basketball, people wanting to splurge on the team merchandise, and have peoples' butts from other cities just to see the Lakeshow once a year.

If the NBA did have a love fest with the Lakers, surely it would not have allowed all those losses in the 1960s. If the NBA did adore the Lakers, then it wasn't Milwaukee's or New Orleans' dumb GM decisions to get Kareem or Magic. If the NBA loves the Lakers, where's the 12-peat of titles during the Showtime era? What do you call the mediocre times of the 1990s then? Where was the title the first year after Jordan ended his play with the Bulls? Why didn't the refs rig the 2003 West Semifinals so that the mediocre Lakers would overcome the powerful Spurs? Where is the championship the league, supposedly, gave the Lakers, despite getting destroyed by the 2004 Pistons (last team-first concept to win NBA title by the way)?

Once Stern realized that neither Kobe nor Shaq could be profitable in the NBA marketing department, the Lakers were eventually treated as the rest of the league: pieces of human scum, only to serve the best interests of the new basketball fads, i.e. today's Miami Heat. Look at the treatment the Heat get in the media, in the ratings, in the road attendance; that used to be the Lakers a decade ago, but not anymore.

But I will say that today's Lakers have played so stupidly, they deserve to be in the toilet. Just end the year and let us regroup for next year. The Howard/Nash/D'Antoni experiment has been a titanic bust; if this team is lucky to play into early May, expect a sweep or 5-game KO by either the Spurs or Thunder.

[Nyk33]

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Lakers. The league doesn't hate them at all.

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Heat. And it didn't obliterate a trade to them because of "basketball reasons."

And it wasn't a series which was rigged, it was one game. Kings had more free throws overall in the series and only Bibby didn't implode in Game 7.

And the NBA did it to pocket more cash from a Game 7 between the ratings-jackpot Lakers and Kings. Give me an example of the NBA doing something because it adores the Lakers.

Also, David Stern once said that his ideal Finals series would be "The Lakers vs. The Lakers". Does that sound like a guy that has an anti-Laker agenda.

Nah, that sounds like someone who's with the times. Anything to make him revenue for the league, any juicy plotline that'll have people talking and watching the NBA. It turned from Magic/Larry, then Jordan, then Kobe/Shaq, followed by "dark times" (Spurs in the mid 2000s), then Lakers/Celtics III, and now the "Miami Death Star."

I wouldn't be surprised if Stern mumbled in his sleep today, "my dream Finals is the Heat vs. the Heat."

You just contradicted yourself.

If the Lakers are such a large revenue machine, that David Stern would say that he wants a Lakers vs Lakers finals, then he clearly does not hate them.

No. What I meant was that Stern hates things that don't make extra revenue for the league. That infamous comment spewed by Stern was at the peak of the Kobe/Shaq conglomerate. Of course the commissioner would play kindly to these Lakers because it would have people taking about basketball, people wanting to splurge on the team merchandise, and have peoples' butts from other cities just to see the Lakeshow once a year.

If the NBA did have a love fest with the Lakers, surely it would not have allowed all those losses in the 1960s. If the NBA did adore the Lakers, then it wasn't Milwaukee's or New Orleans' dumb GM decisions to get Kareem or Magic. If the NBA loves the Lakers, where's the 12-peat of titles during the Showtime era? What do you call the mediocre times of the 1990s then? Where was the title the first year after Jordan ended his play with the Bulls? Why didn't the refs rig the 2003 West Semifinals so that the mediocre Lakers would overcome the powerful Spurs? Where is the championship the league, supposedly, gave the Lakers, despite getting destroyed by the 2004 Pistons (last team-first concept to win NBA title by the way)?

Once Stern realized that neither Kobe nor Shaq could be profitable in the NBA marketing department, the Lakers were treated as the rest of the league: pieces of human scum, only to serve the best interests of the new basketball fads, i.e. today's Miami Heat. Look at the treatment the Heat get in the media, in the ratings, in the road attendance; that used to be the Lakers a decade ago, but not anymore.

But I will say that today's Lakers have played so stupidly, they deserve to be in the toilet. Just end the year and let us regroup for next year. The Howard/Nash/D'Antoni experiment has been a titanic bust; if this team is lucky to play into early May, expect a sweep or 5-game KO by either the Spurs or Thunder.

You are just spouting red herrings that have nothing to do with whether or not David Stern hates the Lakers or not because you can not provide concrete evidence when asked.

So Wade & LeBron to sit for the Heat and Ginobili to possibly miss for the Spurs. So will that mean that both teams will be fined this time around? *sarcasm*

Nah. David Stern will cuddle his preferred team, the Evil Empire from South Florida, with blankets, pillows, and fines to his two most hated adversaries, the Spurs and Lakers.

Also as an aside, to say that the Los Angeles Lakers (let alone Kobe) are not profitable to the league is idiotic. The Los Angeles Lakers are the second most valuable team in the NBA according to Forbes. The media was on the Lakers nuts when they got Dwight and Nash and every ESPN and TNT analyst was gushing over them. According to ESPN the Lakers are #2 in road attendance behind the Heat.

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/sort/awayPct

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/sort/awayAvg

Kobe Bryant was the top vote getter for the All-Star game FFS!

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/01/17/all-star-2013-starters-announced/index.html

[CS85]

Just for fun (go to the 4m20s mark to skip past the Coldplay crap):

Watch the interview with Tim Donaghy's 60 Minutes interview from a few years back for additional flavor.

http://www.cbsnews.c...ch/?id=5914330n

At the 8 minute-ish mark, specifically.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It was 2002. Can we all move on now?

[CS85]

It was 2002. Can we all move on now?

My role in this was to stir the pot.

[NJTank]

Looks like Gilbert Arenas was right to be packing Heat

ATLANTA — Former NBA player and Atlanta native Javaris Crittenton was indicted Tuesday on charges of murder and gang activity.

The Fulton County District Attorney's office said Crittenton, 25, and his cousin, Douglas Gamble, were charged in a 12-count indictment in the death of an Atlanta woman and the attempted murder of another man...

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2013-04-02/javaris-crittenton-murder-charge-gilbert-arenas-wizards-lakers-grizzlies

[zpqmaowl]

Utah 39-36 .520

--------------------

L.A. Lakers 39-36 .520

Dallas 36-38 .486

[Lights Out]

The Lakers' remaining schedule might end up keeping them out of the playoffs. That's a murderers' row of teams right there.

[Kramerica Industries]

But five of seven at home, and six of seven at Staples. Only road game is in Portland, which has always been a difficult venue for the Lakers, but with Portland's slide of late, they might be able to get past them.

Also, the only gimme's on Utah's schedule are the home dates against New Orleans and Minnesota. Denver and OKC are excellent squads, and Utah has really struggled on the road of late, which is why none of those three are certain wins for them.

Dallas has, by far, the easiest road remaining, but they're 2.5 out and the Lakers hold the tiebreak over them (not sure about Utah).

[dbadefense1990]

But five of seven at home, and six of seven at Staples. Only road game is in Portland, which has always been a difficult venue for the Lakers, but with Portland's slide of late, they might be able to get past them.

Also, the only gimme's on Utah's schedule are the home dates against New Orleans and Minnesota. Denver and OKC are excellent squads, and Utah has really struggled on the road of late, which is why none of those three are certain wins for them.

Dallas has, by far, the easiest road remaining, but they're 2.5 out and the Lakers hold the tiebreak over them (not sure about Utah).

Utah has the tiebreaker over the Lakers; if both teams end with the same record, the Jazz go to the playoffs.

I see three trap games for the Lakers: Portland, the Clippers and the Spurs. The Jazz's biggest obstacles are OKC and Denver. The two wildcard matchups for both teams are against the Grizzlies and Warriors; each team faces that pairing (although Utah's games vs. GS and MEM are away). It's gonna come down to the end of the season; you all just watch.

That being said, the Jazz tiebreaker is a huge asset for Utah, not to mention a ginormous liability on the Lakers. For the Lakers to salvage any part of this season, they have to play "perfect+1" basketball the rest of the way, and that's just for a probable 1st round exit. This final seeding race is all the Jazz's to lose, right now.

Dallas has the easiest schedule left of the three, but they've dug themselves too far of a hole to comeback in the playoff race. Last night's loss solidified my position on them.

[Kramerica Industries]

I actually meant Dallas and Utah, who holds the tiebreak. I know Utah holds the tiebreak over LA with their 2-1 mark this season head-to-head.

[IceCap]

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Lakers. The league doesn't hate them at all.

The league once rigged a playoff series to benefit the Heat. And it didn't obliterate a trade to them because of "basketball reasons."

And it wasn't a series which was rigged, it was one game. Kings had more free throws overall in the series and only Bibby didn't implode in Game 7.

And the NBA did it to pocket more cash from a Game 7 between the ratings-jackpot Lakers and Kings. Give me an example of the NBA doing something because it adores the Lakers.

Also, David Stern once said that his ideal Finals series would be "The Lakers vs. The Lakers". Does that sound like a guy that has an anti-Laker agenda.

Nah, that sounds like someone who's with the times. Anything to make him revenue for the league, any juicy plotline that'll have people talking and watching the NBA. It turned from Magic/Larry, then Jordan, then Kobe/Shaq, followed by "dark times" (Spurs in the mid 2000s), then Lakers/Celtics III, and now the "Miami Death Star."

I wouldn't be surprised if Stern mumbled in his sleep today, "my dream Finals is the Heat vs. the Heat."

You just contradicted yourself.

If the Lakers are such a large revenue machine, that David Stern would say that he wants a Lakers vs Lakers finals, then he clearly does not hate them.

No. What I meant was that Stern hates things that don't make extra revenue for the league. That infamous comment spewed by Stern was at the peak of the Kobe/Shaq conglomerate. Of course the commissioner would play kindly to these Lakers because it would have people taking about basketball, people wanting to splurge on the team merchandise, and have peoples' butts from other cities just to see the Lakeshow once a year.

If the NBA did have a love fest with the Lakers, surely it would not have allowed all those losses in the 1960s. If the NBA did adore the Lakers, then it wasn't Milwaukee's or New Orleans' dumb GM decisions to get Kareem or Magic. If the NBA loves the Lakers, where's the 12-peat of titles during the Showtime era? What do you call the mediocre times of the 1990s then? Where was the title the first year after Jordan ended his play with the Bulls? Why didn't the refs rig the 2003 West Semifinals so that the mediocre Lakers would overcome the powerful Spurs? Where is the championship the league, supposedly, gave the Lakers, despite getting destroyed by the 2004 Pistons (last team-first concept to win NBA title by the way)?

Once Stern realized that neither Kobe nor Shaq could be profitable in the NBA marketing department, the Lakers were eventually treated as the rest of the league: pieces of human scum, only to serve the best interests of the new basketball fads, i.e. today's Miami Heat. Look at the treatment the Heat get in the media, in the ratings, in the road attendance; that used to be the Lakers a decade ago, but not anymore.

But I will say that today's Lakers have played so stupidly, they deserve to be in the toilet. Just end the year and let us regroup for next year. The Howard/Nash/D'Antoni experiment has been a titanic bust; if this team is lucky to play into early May, expect a sweep or 5-game KO by either the Spurs or Thunder.

The Lakers are no longer profitable? Are you serious?

[dbadefense1990]

I actually meant Dallas and Utah, who holds the tiebreak. I know Utah holds the tiebreak over LA with their 2-1 mark this season head-to-head.

I just checked; the Jazz have a 2-1 tiebreaker over the Mavs also, placing more dire circumstances on Dallas' playoff hopes.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The Lakers are probably one of the five-most successful franchises in all of professional sports, and certainly in the NBA. Any thought that the league is somehow trying to hold them down is beneath all of us.

[Lights Out]

I see three trap games for the Lakers: Portland, the Clippers and the Spurs.

Well, you're seeing wrong. Games against the Clippers and Spurs cannot by definition be "trap games" for the Lakers because the Lakers are the inferior team in both matchups.