LA Lakers' star Steve Nash is a massive dude. We've seen as much several times on Pies before whether he be part-owning the Vancouver Whitecaps, supporting Tottenham, freestyling in Chinese adverts, stealth-nutmegging Alessandro Del Piero, getting a massage with Landon Donovanor, indeed, being quite good at basketball.
The transformation of Ron Artest has been a lengthy one. Probably, no one would have guessed that
the guy who started the biggest riot in sports with fans would have come so full circle as he has
done.
Earlier in his career, while playing for the Indiana Pacers as the visitor against the Detroit
Pistons, he was the first of a group of players at the end of a game to physically challenge fans
and go into the stands seeking them out.
When it comes down to comparing the great players in the NBA today, Kobe Bryant is someone that
i've always kept as the gold standard because of his ability to compete, desire to win, and proven
track record.
Boston Celtics great Larry Bird saw the Los Angeles Lakers as the enemy during his playing days,
but sees Bryant as the one current player he'd like on his side if he were playing today.
The Philadelphia 76ers surprised a lot of people in the 2012 National Basketball Association
playoffs, partially due to Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose suffering an injury that knocked
him out of the series. Veteran power forward Elton Brand was a catalyst for the team's progression
over the course of the year and helped the Sixers almost upset the Boston Celtics, who nearly made
the NBA Finals.
With ten days remaining before the end of the 2012 NBA season, it's time to take another look at
the NBA power rankings. Who are the best basketball teams on the planet? That's the question we
will be answering below.
Here is the April Edition of our NBA power rankings:
1. Chicago Bulls
With or without Derrick Rose, the Bulls are beastly.
With March drawing to a close, let's take a look at the best teams in the NBA. While this
condensed lockout season has lowered the quality of basketball, there are still some great teams in
the NBA. Here are our power rankings of the best of the best.
1. Miami Heat
The Heat remain the team to beat due to their talent.
Tom Thibodeau has transitioned from being an outstanding assistant coach in the NBA to the 2010-11
NBA Coach of the Year as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls.
Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun Times writes of what makes Thibodeau such a special coach.
‘‘Before we made the decision to hire him, we did an incredible amount of background work
on all the candidates,'' says Bulls general manager Gar Forman, who with executive vice president
for basketball operations John Paxson signed Thibodeau as the 18th head coach in franchise history
on June 23, 2010.
With the series tied 3-3, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers played a Game 7 on Saturday
night. Boston was at home and was favored to win. And thanks to a late rally, the Celtics were able
to take home the victory and advance to play the Miami Heat in the 2012 Eastern Conference
Finals.
Kevin Garnett powered Boston with 18 points and 13 rebounds, however it was Rajon Rondo who came
up big at the end.
The events during All-Star Saturday weren't very exciting. Surprisingly, the most exciting event
might have been the Skills Challenge. The Skills Challenge had a ton of talent and there was good
effort by each participate.
The players in the Skills Challenge were Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Rajon Rondo of
the Boston Celtics, John Wall of the Washington Wizards, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City
Thunder, Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs.
Dwight Howard's wish list is growing. The superstar center for the Orlando Magic is now open to
playing for the Chicago Bulls. Previously, Howard had left the Bulls off of his wish list.
"If I could play with Derrick right now and God wanted that to happen, it will happen. It has
nothing to do with me not wanting to play with Derrick Rose.
Perhaps all the Boston Celtics needed was their best player. Losers of their first three games
this season, the Celtics welcomed back Paul Pierce and then welcomed themselves to the win column
with a 96-85 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
In his debut, Pierce had 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.
Earlier today, an NBA trade rumor had Chris Paul getting traded to the Boston Celtics. The deal
would have sent Rajon Rondo to the New Orleans Hornets. However, according to sources close to
Chris Paul, the Celtics can quit their daydreaming because Paul won't sign an extension with
Boston.
Without an extension, the Celtics wouldn't do the deal.
With the NBA back in business, trade rumors are flowing. One of the most interesting trade
rumors is between the Boston Celtics and the New Orleans Hornets. The trade rumor has Rajon Rondo
being traded in a package for Chris Paul.
Chris Paul is obviously a much better player than Rajon Rondo, so why is this trade even a
possibility?
With the NBA lockout over, it's time to get back to thinking about basketball. In these NBA
power rankings, we'll list the top ten NBA teams headed into the 2011-12 season. Did your favorite
NBA team make the cut? Continue reading to find out ...
1. Miami Heat
The Heat are just too talented to not be No.
Early goals, excitement in the middle, and losing the game late. These are all things that this
season's New England Revolution are starting to do to us. The team debuted Jose Moreno, to minimal
fanfare, and had the comeback of Benny Feilhaber held on a day where the Boston Celtics, Boston
Bruins, and Boston Red Sox were all playing.
Go to any article on the MLS site that has anything to do with the Seattle Sounders or the
Portland Timbers and you will find back and forth snide comments from Seattle and Timbers fans.
Even in the Goal of the Year and Save of the Year articles you had the constant bickering between
the two fan bases.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the
2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next
Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference
Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [.
30-Somethings are dominating the NBA these days. They're everywhere, making their presence felt in crunchtime.
Almost every team in the 2013 playoffs has at least one 30 year-old plus player making a difference:
Ray Allen, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Chris Anderson, Shane Battier/Miami Heat, Jason Kidd, Pablo Prigioni/New York Knicks, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce/ Boston Celtics, Kirk Hinrich, Carlos Boozer/Chicago Bulls, Chauncey Billups/LA Clippers, Tayshaun Prince/Memphis Grizzlies, Kyle Korver/Atlanta Hawks, Andre Miller/Denver Nuggets, Nick Collison/OKC Thunder, Pau Gasol, Antawn Jamison/LA Lakers and Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner, Tony Parker/San Antonio Spurs.
Rajon Rondo and a cameraman got into an altercation after Tuesday night's game between the
Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. Apparently Rajon Rondo didn't want to be on camera and went to
the cameraman and told him to his face. You can watch the Rajon Rondo cameraman video below to see
how it unfolded.
The Knicks deserve to be rooted for. They haven't won a title in more than 35 years and their last
two times in the Finals were respectable efforts with heartbreaking results.
