Will he stay or won’t he?  After much scrutiny and damage to his image over the last few seasons, Dwight Howard finally signed a one-year extension to stay with the Orlando Magic last season. Not expecting him to stay put, the Magic ultimately decided to trade the three time defensive player of the year to the Los Angeles Lakers in a mega-deal. With Howard, Steve Nash and longtime-Laker Kobe Bryant, the Lakers were expected to become a dominant team once again. But injuries and poor play have made the Lakers a below-average team thus far in the season. Howard has been a target of blame for the Lakers’ struggles because of his play and the questioning of his mental ability to play in a city like Los Angeles and with another star player in Kobe Bryant. The idea of trading Howard before the trade deadline swirled up as the Lakers continued their struggles. Yet Mitch Kupchak and the entire Lakers organization, stood pat and didn’t do anything drastic like trading their center. The Lakers believe that they can re-sign the big man to a multi-year deal and make him a Laker for years to come. Many believe that Howard will only be a Laker for this season but I believe that he will re-sign with the Lakers and help them regain their status as NBA elite. Here are three reasons why:

Is Dwight Howard the right building block for the Lakers’ future? Do they have a choice at this point? By Howcheng (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

1. Where else is he going to go?: 

As we all know, Howard wanted to go to Brooklyn rather than the Lakers but that dream is dead and Howard would be smart to let it die. The Nets are way over the cap after trading for Joe Johnson and his almost $20 million contract. There would be no way for the Nets to sign Howard. The next option might be Dallas, which looks promising but isn’t so much. Why would Howard want to leave playing with an aging 34-year old Kobe Bryant to go and play with an aging 34-year old Dirk Nowitzki? That would be the most pointless free agent move in NBA history. The Mavericks would love to get Howard but that isn’t likely to happen. The final team that might make sense would be the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta is Howard’s hometown and they will only have about $18 million left in guaranteed money on their entire roster when the season ends. The Hawks, I believe are the only legit threat to the Lakers for Howard. They could sign Howard and re-sign forward Josh Smith, whom Howard has been friends with dating back to their pre-school days. Together, combined with Al Horford, the Hawks could have one of the scariest front lines in the NBA.

But in the end I believe he will stay with the Lakers because where else is he going to go if he wants to win a title like he says he does? The Lakers can also give him the most amount of money guaranteed, with up to $30 million more than any other NBA team. The Lakers know how to win championships and the best place for Howard’s career is in Los Angeles. I think he likes the spotlight and idea of being in Hollywood. As long as Kobe is around, Howard will be second fiddle to him but if that means winning, I’m sure Howard will learn to deal with that.

2. His image is damaged enough:

During the whole “Dwightmare” fiasco, Howard severely damaged his image as the “nice” guy and this is bad news to Howard. He likes to be loved by everyone and hates when people look down on him and rightfully so. How bad would it look if Howard left Orlando for the Lakers then left them after one season, especially the one the Lakers are currently having? He hasn’t put up very impressive numbers thus far this season, although some of that goes back to his still injured back and now shoulder. Howard seems to be trying to re-write his image, kind of like LeBron James did a couple years ago after leaving Cleveland for Miami. And the first and best way to do so would be to stay with the Lakers and sign an extension with them. Howard owes it to the fans to be truthful with them and he can start by telling them he is staying. This way it takes pressure off everybody and the Lakers can start playing the way we all expecting them too.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08gvGpGCwA

3. He is finally showing maturity: 

After recent home wins over Boston and Portland, Howard has started to show some of his capabilities as a basketball player. He’s showing energy and has played the way Orlando fans remember him playing and it has resulted in two wins for the Lakers. He most recently was quoted for basically taking the blame for the many losses early in the season because of his lack of energy and spark. This is something new from the big-man, he’s finally showing some maturity, something that has been questioned since his arrival in Los Angeles. To me, this is a sign that Howard is planning on staying with the Lakers because why else would he come out and say those things? If he was planning on leaving the Lakers at the end of the year, I don’t believe he would take the blame as he would then be trying to get the best contract for himself. Howard’s mature statements a good sign for the Lakers and their fans and hopefully turns out to lead to a contract extension to stay in LA.

In the end:

Howard and the Lakers have struggled this season so far, currently sitting in the ninth seed in the Western Conference but surprisingly only sit three games back of the eighth seed. For the Lakers to make the playoffs, it will take all out focus and hustle plus they need some teams ahead of them to start losing. But the Lakers can’t worry about that, all they can do is play their game, win and hope that everything turns out for the best. No matter what happens this season, the most important thing is that the Lakers re-sign Dwight Howard back. As much as I hate the say this, he is the future of the franchise. With a healthy Dwight, I believe the Lakers will return to their winning ways and bring glory and dominance back to this franchise. As for this season, Kobe made a guarantee about this team making the playoffs so let’s see if he and the rest of the Lakers can back it up.

I grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, like one would a god. Collected his cards, modeled my jump shot, the tongue wag and the up and under layups after him. The man was divinity. He was other-worldly. Alien. Someone unparalleled throughout time.

But now that I have grown up I see reality for what it is. MJ, like any other human, was full of luck, flaws and failures. Thus this Fansmanship series was born, beginning with Mike’s imperfectly perfect legacy.

**************************************************************************************************

1) Space Jam? Seriously? Who knew Mike in the peek of his career needed a face lift from bugs bunny? He was a three – time champion at the time and ruler of the league.

But ruler of space? It just can’t get more shame – worthy than that. The man was a brand in and of himself, and he sold out to become a lead of a cartoon and one of the most ridiculously cheesy songs in musical history.

Then again, he was playing baseball, and dropping routine fly balls.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLeD-2Ebdaw

2) A true passing of the torch? Okay, I won’t go that far. But the young Iverson sure made the 34- year old Mike look geriatric in 1997. It was one of the only times in memory, I can recall an opposing player out dueling the great like that.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CZbrVrX1tM

3) If it wasn’t weird enough seeing MJ play baseball and star in Space Jam, it got even weirder when he returned in 1995 to the game of basketball, wearing a number 45 jersey!  Jordan was clearly only a shell of his former self shooting,  7 for 28 from the floor with a mediocre 19 points.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1LeVCwyHas

4) Forgive the long recording. In fact, skip ahead to around 6 minutes and watch from that point forward. What you will see will amaze you. A return to his infamous 23 (after wearing 45 for most the season) meant Mike was officially back, but not so fast. In the final two – minutes in a decisive game 6 with his team’s back against the wall, Mike shoots 0-3 from the floor, air balls a jump shot and turns the ball over twice.  There goes my fantasy of him winning every series en route to a title.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwR8ZGmLJg

5) Motivational, bla bla bla. Nothing was motivational about Mike in a baseball uniform. He looked awkward. I really couldn’t find anything better than this to describe his pathetic stint at baseball, where from 1994 to 1995, he hit .227 in the minors. Mike was the Luc Longley of his second sport. How awe-inspiring is that?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0_KWGGvtWg

6) Let’s not deny the truth: MJ was a jerk. This is the guy who fought his own teammate, Steve Kerr, in practice because Kerr hit a three point shot over him. But one thing Mike wasn’t, was unprofessional. He was the consummate pro able to keep his cool in big game moments. Well…not so much this night against the Jazz, when he bumped the referee (yes bumped) en route to getting tossed.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNt5jCwA9bs

7) I hope a bolt of lightning doesn’t strike me dead for this, but the infamous “shrug” in game one of the 1992 NBA Finals against the Portland Trailblazers was incredibly unlike Mike. At this point in his career, he was a 28 percent three point shooter. But on this night, the best defense was Mike’s lucky offense. He hit 6 threes in the first half, scoring an NBA Finals record 39 first half points.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLDNxhFCXPs

8) I hated MJ in a Wizards uniform. It got awfully annoying watching him retire, return, retire. And this time I was, like a teeny bop Fresnoid, “over it.” He was fat and slow and looked more like post – 1999 lockout Shawn Kemp, than his usual slender athletic self. This missed dunk says it all. What is that vert? 14 inches?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGbe_ewotVg

9) Again, please no lightning bolts. But wasn’t Mike so good he could get open, fair and square, against anyone? Not.So.Fast. While I agree there is no better way than this for Mike to cap his famed Bull career, this was a serious push off on a superior defender Bryon Russell and an offensive foul. Mike needed a little shove off, to get open at the ripe age of 36.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdPQ3QxDZ1s

10) So, I’m super bummed because my favorite all – time favorite player, came back one to many times and sounded like an arrogant buffoon in his hall of fame speech, forever tainting his legacy. I’m sorry Mike, but you just sound stupid. Real talk here. You sound comprehensively self obsessed. What happened to the man who made others around him better?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzBMGXfK4c

We differed in our opinions. Some of us thought he’d land in LA LA, to stake his claim to an acting career and play the Superman savior role for the dwindling career of Kobe Bryant. Others of us thought he would go to the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, or even stay with the Orlando Magic. I hoped he’d flounder in a miracle sign-and-trade to the New Orleans Hornets or Charlotte Bobcats. And I’ll tell you why.

For one: I didn’t really care. I was more interested in the winding down of the NFL.

For two: I was anticipating the return of baseball and salivating over an Albert Pujols’ new beginning with my beloved Angels.

For three: I was gearing up for the NBA playoffs, that so far have been brilliant with the performances of Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

A sign-and-trade to one of the above two teams made for good news and even better conversations. Can you imagine swinging a club with a few cronies, drinking beer, talking about Dwight Howard in a Bobcat uniform?

“Billy did you see where Howard went to?”

“Nope.”

“The Charlotte Bobcats, dude.”

“The who?”

“The Bobcats, they started from scratch when the Hornets moved.”

“Never heard of em.’ You gonna swing or not?”

The irony behind that trade would have made sense to every one of us who resent Howard for one ridiculous reason: He stole the “Superman” name from Shaquille O’Neal and hadn’t the decency to think of anything else. Just because he jumped nine inches in a superman cape to win a dunk contest, doesn’t mean he can stake claim to a mantle only real superstars can carry.

What has Howard ever won? A dunk contest. Oh, and Defensive Player of the Year, a rebound title and I’m sure, somewhere someplace, a body building competition. But besides that? Best Smile his senior year in high school?

Look, I’m not denying the man is gifted with incredible height and an athletic intangible to go along with it. But Howard has never and never will be, a franchise player. He will always be the raw inefficient offensive player who needs three other scorers to make him relevant.

Case in point: 2009. Howard and the Magic propelled passed LeBron James and the Cavs en route to their first Finals appearance since Penny and Shaq in 1996. They were manhandled by a superior Laker team in five games, a series during which Howard never scored more than 21 points and shot just 39% from the floor. Instead of Howard, it was Hedo Turkoglu who made a name for himself in the previous series against the Cavs, leading the team in scoring and hitting clutch jump shot, one after another, in the closing minutes of the fourth quarters.

Dwight Howard has been lucky enough to be a big partly skilled man in a moment in NBA History so parched for big men it makes Ron Jeramy’s addiction to sex look geriatric. In fact, Howard hasn’t, technically, been the best big of his generation.

Had not, Yao Ming broken a femur every time he stepped forward, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. We would be discussing the monumental career of Yao Ming, the man who bridged the basketball gap between two hemispheres. Instead we all know the unfortunate end to Yao Ming. A stoic soul with a keen, sensible, personality, and a meek humility, not to mention a 15-foot bank shot better than most guards and the body of a giant. It ended prematurely short, as all good people do, according to Bill Joel.

But Howard on the other hand, has had a relatively painless career. Until this year, Howard had played in 90% of his games. This is the only dividing factor critics use in discussing another big of his generation, Andrew Bynum, who like Yao, has been brushed off with injury woes. This year Bynum played an injury free year and equaled Howard in most categories (considering he shared rebounds and points with two other stars: Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol).

2011-2012 season

Andrew Bynum             Dwight Howard

Games Played: 60              Games Played: 54

Points: 18.7                          Points: 20.6

Rebounds: 11.8                   Rebounds: 14.5

Blocks: 1.9                             Blocks: 2.1

Field Goal %: 55.8              Field Goal %: 57.3

Free Throw %: 69.2           Free Throw %: 49.1

MPG: 35.2                             MPG: 38.3

When I originally heard the Lakers wouldn’t part with Bynum for Howard, I though they were absolutely crazy (And they still might be)! Bynum was a spoiled-brat, pampered by Laker ownership since he entered the league as an unproven and awkwardly lanky nonathletic 18-year old. He’s been injured often and shown little to any drive at using his god-gifted frame. Howard was the proven somewhat likable and consistent veteran. And then this year happened and my philosophy went to horse manure.

Howard flaunted his egotism all year with a round about approach to answering one god damned question: Dwight, would you like to be in Orlando or not? And while his teammates concocted a decent year swirled with media malaise, Howard embarrassed his coach in live interviews and bowed out early with what some critics describe as a makeshift snot nosed injury.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzORXMDvJzQ

Dwight, clearly, is not Shquille O’Neal. Shoot! He isn’t even the quiet gamer Al Jefferson is. I am beginning to think Bynum has more upside because of his offensive skill set and now for certain, Yao Ming with a dose of good health would trump him in ever major statistical category. You just can’t like a guy who flaunts himself around like a two-dollar hooker in a mismatched set of heels.

Howard fooled us all into thinking he was the funny charismatic star with a humbled determination to make his teammates better. Howard can’t even make himself better.

He shoots free throws wore, yes WORSE than Shaquille O’Neal.

He is outspoken a’ la bridal-gowned Dennis Rodman.

He is a quitter.

Dwight Howard is a quitter.

Dwight Howard is Baron Davis with a better body. You can blame God for that one. He is wielding a shredded cape, and shooting straight to Hollywood, collecting endorsement money and what will soon be one of the largest contracts in league history. But the O’Brien trophy will never be his if he wins one. It will belong to guys like Turkoglu, with the ability to hit a big shot and knock down free throws. Howard will be the face of the project but the men beneath him, the glue that holds his bloated self-ego together. If I were Magic owner Rick DeVos I would approach the Hornets and ask for the rights to Anthony Davis and a montage of role guys, and wash my hands clean of him.

O! But if only the world worked that perfectas. If only the world was just that damn ironically poetic it would be too good for words. Damn.

And while Mitch Kupchak bluffs his way through media montages on “foreseen” megadeals on the “near” horizon, the league moves on without Hollyweird and the boy wonder, Bryant.

Last season, clearly his worst in years, Bryant looked human.

His 25.0 points per game were impressive enough to encourage the kingdom to think he’s got another two or three years in the tank. But his paltry 33.2 minutes per game were his lowest since his sophomore season, begging whether or not the heir apparent’s brittle knees can withstand another 164 to 246.

In a recent interview at the Lakers media day, the brash guard admitted his disappointments with the team’s direction. A day or two since the sudden brush off of reigning sixth man of the year, Lamar Odom to Dallas, Bryant clamored, “I don’t like it.”

He continued with a small jab to Kupchak, acknowledging Odom’s worth: “He played lights out. I don’t understand the criticism of reality shows and this, that and the other. I don’t get it. I don’t understand that. He had his best season last season, clearly wasn’t a distraction, and he played his ass off. I don’t get where that comes from.”

And while media members continued to push Bryant in a defensive corner in regards to the sometimes aloof and silly minded forward, Kobe shot back, ” Now I’m just getting pissed off.”

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmYKB5S3nlE

And so should you.

If you find yourself in the thrust of Laker’ fandom, get really pissed off. Lose the admiration and begin your own occupy Staples movement, calling for the heads of upper management. Because either Jerry Buss is losing his mind, or Mitch Kupchak is the modern day Brutus, aiming to ax Bryant’s career into oblivion.

Without Odom you can kiss a shot at Dwight Howard or Chris Paul goodbye.

Odom’s 14 points and 11 rebounds last season off the bench were his cleanest numbers in his decade-long career. And for the first time the do-it-all swing man played with passion on both sides of the ball.

He seemed to be clicking. His becoming attitude was a motivator for the young Andrew Bynum, whose burgeoning attitude and work ethic are constantly in question.

Without Lamar Odom, the Lakers lack that invaluable one-of-a-kind trade chip to tack on the back end of a blockbuster trade with either Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum. And now, as the team collects their paltry 2nd round draft choice and $8.9 million chunk of change in exchange for Odom, the rest of the league moves proactively forward.

Currently, talks for CP3 have re-landed in Los Angeles, this time with the Clippers. Dwight Howard has turned his attentions back onto a New Jersey- Orlando deal. Even former spark plug Shannon Brown opted for the sunny hot gunning country of Phoenix, Arizona.

Back on the Odom deal, Kobe smarted, “I’m sure Mark Cuban isn’t nixing that trade,” with his usual head nod.

The deal to get rid of Odom was a trade that ultimately made the Lakers worse, stunted their growth in the near future and strengthened the Mavericks with “the best forward trio in the league,” according to Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle.

It makes you wonder what this season will look like.

Remember, it was just four days ago that Pau Gasol’s name was typed out in a three-way deal sending him to Houston.

Whether or not the soft-tempered Spaniard can bounce back is yet to be seen as well. “This is a league that’s becoming more of a business than a sport unfortunately,” Gasol said shyly in a camera interview (below). His beard and baby face averting the obvious insecurity: Where is this team heading?

For Kobe Bryant it is quickly moving backwards while everyone else, including past teammate Lamar Odom, move at least step or two in a positive direction.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqWDrZbMg8E

The short list of elite talent undoubtedly begins and ends with Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. While both would be exceptional homerun additions, acquiring both is for the most part an extremely unlikely prospect due to the amount of swapping chips the Lakers’ current roster possesses. So which superstar would be a better fit for the Lakers’ needs? Which player would fit the best based on what L.A. would be left with after what they would trade away?

Los Angeles’s finest professional franchise has always been about one thing, winning championships and doing it with a dominant big man. Down through the years legends the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal have lead the Lakers to numerous rings. This makes Dwight Howard an obvious first target for the purple and gold.

Yes, they need help at point guard and yes, an aging Derek Fisher and a meek Steve Blake are not the ultimate answer. But what separates the ideas of trading for Howard or trading for Paul?

First and foremost, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol would certainly frontline a package of players going to either Orlando or New Orleans for the services of Howard or Paul.

If you give up Bynum, you need a centerpiece in return. If you give up Gasol for Paul, you will probably be parting ways with Lamar Odom as well, and that scenario would leave a gaping hole at the forward position, a hole that no team with any real championship aspirations could weather and still be considered contenders. That is, of course, unless they got some frontline help in return with Paul.

If the Lakers were to deal a Bynum package for Paul, they would be left with a gaping hole in the middle. Pau Gasol would be left to hold down the middle alone, night in and night out, and let’s face it, that’s not Pau’s game. You would be leaving your only semblance of a big man susceptible to injury or fatigue, especially considering this year’s condensed schedule. Not to mention, this scenario would also go directly against what new coach Mike Brown’s system is based on, not running and gunning and ballet lay-ups, but hard-nosed defense and power offense.

While it is understood that the addition of Paul could do a great deal ignite new coach Mike Brown’s San Antonio Spurs-like high screen-roll and high-post offensive sets, having an all-time great guard like Kobe Bryant makes obtaining Paul all that much less necessary when compared to the prospect of bringing in Howard.

Bryant has showed throughout his career that he can play any role that is needed for an offense to be successful, including ball-handler and facilitator. Just look what Brown was able to do with LeBron James in Cleveland? LeBron is no 6’ 0” jitterbug and he was able to distribute like Magic Johnson. Much could be the same with Kobe Bryant, especially in his aging years.

And while offense racks up win after win in the regular season, anyone with any sense of basketball history understands that defense ultimately wins in the playoffs. We all know Paul can dribble circles around anyone and can get a teammate an open shot as good as anyone in the league. We all know Paul can swipe away a few steals a game. But to compare that idea with the idea of the most dominant inside presence in the league and perpetual defensive player of the year is not even a debate.

The true trump card in the argument however is position scarcity. There are a few point guards in the league with equal or near equal talent level when compared to Chris Paul. Deron Williams may be a better overall point guard. Derrick Rose is the next big thing in the league and can finish better than anyone his size. Rajon Rondo still has upside and can create for others just as well as Paul can. Steve Nash still does everything a point guard is expected to do well and has a few elite years left. John Wall has mount Everest-esqe upside and will rival Derrick Rose as the best point guard in the league in the coming years.

The bottom line – there IS no one in the league like Dwight Howard. And to have that type of advantage at the most scarce position in the league is a fact the Lakers cannot overlook.

So I say roll out the red carpet for Superman 2.0. And CP3, while it would be great for you to join the fold, and any other year a once-in-a-generation type of talent like Dwight Howard wouldn’t be in the picture you would undoubtedly be first on the list.

Don’t settle for courting Mercury when you can lasso Jupiter. But who knows, if there is anyone who can corral an entire solar system, it’s the Lakers.

For a kid growing up in the 80’s, the Lakers dominance was a right of passage. In 1987, I was six years old and I have real memories of the moment when Magic sunk his sky-hook against the Celtics. The Lakers made eight out of ten NBA Finals in the 80’s and won five. Hearing Chick Hearn calling Magic’s sky-hook still gives me the chills.

In 1989, at the age of 8, I watched the Lakers’ last title for a while. After making the Finals in 1991, the franchise lost their superstar and fell on some hard times. Names like Magic, Kareem, and Big Game James were replaced by guys named VanExel, Sedale, Vlade, and Pig. In 1993-94, they finished 16 games below .500 and didn’t make the playoffs. Even for a 12-year old Lakers fanatic, Vlade’s soft Euro-game, Elden Campbell’s small hands, and James Edwards’ fade-away post moves didn’t cut it. VanExel was too young, Sedale too old, and even then George Lynch annoyed me.

While the Lakers continued to improve both in talent and in their record, the remainder of the pre-Shaq era was largely filled with end-of-season frustration and the realization that the Western Conference was completely inferior and that the Lakers were even inferior within the Western Conference.

In one offseason, Shaq’s decision to sign with the Lakers changed everything. No longer did Lakers fans have to deal with the frustration of a 7-foot center who was reluctant to dunk. Shaq’s game was everything that the Lakers seemed to need and more. More importantly, Shaq gave the Lakers a headliner they had been missing in the years since Magic retired. In a star-studded city like Los Angeles, don’t underestimate the impact of a headliner.

Despite losses to the Jazz in the playoffs and frustrating finishes to season, watching Shaq was ALWAYS a treat. As a fan, you always felt like you might see a feat of athletic dominance that you’d never seen before. The Diesel was “bigger, stronger, and faster” personified.

It took patience to wait for Phil Jackson to move to Los Angeles and for Kobe Bryant to mature enough to provide the second punch in the Lakers’ attack. But while we waited for the team to mature, Shaq provided mammoth dunk after mammoth dunk.

During the 1999-2000 season, Shaq took both his game and his showmanship to another level. In the new Staples Center — the entertainment crown jewel of Los Angeles — fans were serenaded with the theme from Superman whenever their own “Superman” established his dominance over an opponent.

The Lakers won the title in 2000 and the next two after that. His amazing ability on the court was sealed.

But I will remember other things most about Shaq and his time in Los Angeles.

I will remember not answering the questions asked by someone like Craig Saeger or John Ireland, but rather answer whatever question he felt like answering.

Sideline guy: “Shaq, you scored 37 points and pulled down 22 rebounds. Was the game plan to get the ball into you early?”

Shaq: “My teammates were really great tonight, I love this city and we are all excited to get this win on the road.”

Genius.

I’ll remember Shaq’s glossing himself “The Big Aristotle” after some deep conversations with and study under the Zen Master.

I’ll remember his story about how Phil Jackson made him swim out into a lake to help him with a chore when he went to visit Jackson in Montana after Jackson committed to the Lakers. Whether it happened or not, it was a great story and vintage Shaq showmanship.

I’ll always remember conversations with my college roommate, Kurt, about how his teammates were the stupidest people alive if they didn’t throw the ball into Shaq in the post on every possession. He was that dominant.

Most of all, I’ll probably remember some of Shaq’s quotes about being allowed to be abused in the post.

Many of them are chronicled here at http://shaqquotes.com .

Some of my favorites are:

“Keep in mind, I’m not allowed to be tough. I’m tamed.” Shaq had to take abuse all game, every game, and not strike back. His self-awareness of the fact that he was “tamed” is an interesting observation. For those who question how hard he tried or how much he cared, you should also question what kind of madness may have happened to other people on the court had he cared a little more or acted out on what were surely his desires to get all the Matt Geigers of the world back for inflicting constant physical harm upon him.

“You guys make the rules up, so a foul is a foul.  It doesn’t matter if a guy is bigger and stronger. It’s not my fault I ate my Frosted Flakes when I was little, and you ate Wheaties.”

Shaq gave Barkley-level quotes while being likeable during his playing days. He had what was arguably the most dominant 5 year stretch a player could have. He went away from Los Angeles and while he was bitter, he had built up so much good will, that it was still hard to dislike him as an overweight and bitter also-ran who was run out of town. As a Lakers fan, I was truly happy for him when he won another title.

Despite an injury-plagued end to his career, Shaq even made the Celtics more likable this year. His impact on the game will be measured against Bird, Magic, Jordan, Chamberlain, Robertson, West, Erving, and Jabbar. At a time when everyone complained about a Jordan-less league Shaq was the main attraction, carrying the weight of David Stern’s post-Jordan bitterness on his broad shoulders with ease. His presence will be missed on the court.

His retirement, however, opens up an opportunity for the greatest pre/post game show in NBA history. I can’t watch those games, but I would probably tune in to see Shaq, Charles, Kenny, and EJ on a pre-game, halftime, or post-game show. Can you dig it?

Everything in the world of history is a mystical equation. And every equation has a variable. We are trained to solve the variable X-factor through basic deduction, arithmetic, and logic. Take away the numeric value to its right or left and divide the sum total by X. The answered NOW breathes in life, becoming more and more tangible, as the ability to solve the paradigm reveals itself.

Like a spring flower, our answered world grows in its vibrancy.

Life’s dominoes begin to fall one by one, aligning into our new normal. All interpretation becomes a reflection of what Quantum Physicists call a mirrored image–our new normals interpretation of current circumstance: time and space. But according to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is boundless and void of the boundary points of mathematics: X, Y and Z.

So where are we and why? We don’t really know.

This is where imagination becomes crucial and comes into play. Our emporium of memories are the elements that drive us into Einstein’s boundless dream-like state. The world tips, lilts, rocks, and the fathomable presence of NOW is lost in the surreal.

So we float.

Everything became surreal in the NBA after last summer’s shopping spree, and I believe we are in the most confusing shift between superpowers. In the midst of this all, the media has sounded like quaking tabloid writers spewing asinine hot topics.

Were not the Spurs too physical and too potent for the defending champion Lakers? Not if a 99-83 blowout at the hands of the Lakers two nights ago has anything to say about it.

So what NOW?

We know that we are top heavy with teams like the Bulls, Mavs, Thunder, Heat, Magic, and Knicks.

The Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs are still the elite of the elite. But what does that mean in an upside-down environment? It means I would abstain from betting the house, boat, or wife in Las Vegas.

A blockbuster trade involving Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to the Knicks made things, shall we say, interesting. All of a sudden the Knicks have become a serious contender; a team that could knock off an over confident one, two, or three.

Even smaller trades can shift time’s mirrored world. When the Celtics rid themselves of Kendrick Perkins in a deal to Oklahoma City for an underachieving swing in Jeff Green, questions arose. Are the Celtics tough enough NOW? A team who had lived on its brutal team defense now has to rely upon a thirty-eight year old Shaquille O’Neal to anchor them defensively.

Most critics believe Perkins will act as the cog defensively that will help the Thunder deal with Western bigs like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Tim Duncan, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Yet can we really have faith in a team relying upon two teenagers in the world of stardom? It has yet to be seen if Kevin Durant or Russel Westbrook can hit the big shot.

Who really knows? Still twenty games away from the most talked about postseason in recent history, die-hard fans are feeling more insecure and unsure than ever before.

…

Security is a gift, and boy do I miss it.

It was mortgaged last Summer when the NBA’s star faces tip-toed elsewhere like dancing ballerinas, creating what scholar Malcolm Gladwell calls a tipping point: A tipping point is the moment when an idea created by either a large corporal entity or an individual, spreads to the masses. It’s a non-discriminatory personality that can be better understood by humanities need for evolution because everything “new” at some point becomes old and stagnant. Humanity tires of the old.

I guess the NBA God was sick of Lakers vs. Celtics, and so he decided to blow our minds and flip us off in the process.

If LeBron James had stayed a Cleveland Cavalier, it is fair to say much of this shift would not have happened. Whether you like the guy or you don’t, LeBron James is a very powerful athlete on and off the court. He is the association’s fault-line star, with the power to change the league.

On the court, the 6’8, two-hundred-sixty pound point-forward is athletically in a world of his own. His developed jump-shot has made him nearly impossible to guard. Blend in his power-forward like strength, his explosive speed, forty inch vertical, and you have a machine that cannot be stopped.

Well, you do; just ask him to deliver in the clutch…

LeBron is a fan favorite. He is the highest paid player off the court with various endorsement deals. He interviews well, which is something lacking in today’s athlete, giving him a like-ability that is a key component to a tipping point. This is what Malcolm Gladwell refers to as stickiness in his book The Tipping Point, making the evolution taking place as painless as possible. There is no tipping point without the stickiness (like-ability) of an emerging idea.

Does not a fad proceed what was at one point stylistically original?

****

It is hard to believe Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did not know about LeBron’s desire to complete the ‘trifecta’ in South Beach. Wade and LeBron have been close friends since splashing on the scene together in 2003. And I don’t know about you, but my friends and I talk. Also, considering LeBron had a more than a productive situation in Cleveland, it would be hard to believe he went into the South Beach Experiment without knowing first that Wade and Bosh would join forces with him there.

Whether or not Wade is the better of the two (he is), he played second fiddle to LeBron in last season’s free agent fray. For most of the 09-10 season, Wade had hinted he would like to go back home to Chicago, joining a potent squad with the talent that has now become Derick Rose. His situation was average in Miami, and at twenty-eight, Wade with a lot of miles on his smaller 6’5 frame, was in need of making a decision that would alter his hall of fame career forever.

Chicago made an offer right away. Bosh had already made it known that he would leave Toronto.  Who would blame the guy?  He also made it known he would be comfortable as a secondary role alongside either LeBron or Wade. Spending seven years in the wasteland of Toronto, the lengthy perimeter-oriented forward had learned life the hard way in the NBA, that he was nothing but a second rate star.

Now he is nothing but a Horace Grant. Ouch.

Just because Bosh and Wade co-mingled their visits with Chicago together, does not mean they were intending to couple on the same team. I think it is fair to say that the league was awaiting LeBron’s decision before big names like Wade, Bosh, Amare, and Boozer landed elsewhere. If you notice the trend, every time LeBron visited one of his top picks–New York, Jersey, Miami, or Chicago; Wade and Bosh setup meetings a couple days afterward. It was almost as if they were gauging LeBron’s visits. It’s like a high-roller shop-around for a lap dance at a club. His first pick decides she wants to ride his richer, better looking friend, so he goes after her slightly less attractive twin.

The South Beach Experiment was the biggest heist in league history, a three headed Godzilla in the making, one that has ended up in lack of the “balls” needed to win big games. As of today the Heat are 1-9 against the top five teams in the NBA. And yet somehow it was LeBron who not only altered careers forever but changed our perception of the league with a trend as cheesy as an eighties horror flick.

“Attack of the Sporting Threesomes!” coming to a theater near you.

Everything from this point on fell into place. LeBron to Wade to Bosh to Amare to Boozer.

Amare signing with the New York Knicks for max dollars before the LeBron signing was like the Knicks dangling a piece of raw beef in front of a starving dog. The Knicks wanted LeBron and had made that known all along. So signing a dynamic piece like Amare gave them the thundering bargaining chip they needed when wooing the King.

Woo all you want. According to Andy Stevens on fansmanship.com, when you are wooing the King, you are wooing a “kingdom of clutch bricks.” Over the last week LeBron has wilted under the pressure. His Heat blew a twenty four point lead to the Orlando Magic, and lost numerous close games in which LeBron, like a pizza delivery boy in training, was unable to deliver on time.

It is interesting that Chicago never really made headlines when it came to signing LeBron. Though they were one of LeBron’s top choices, they courted Wade and Bosh as a duo. It makes me wonder if LeBron made it clear early on that he did not want to play with the Bulls. If so, the Bulls were trying to dismantle a powerful menage a twa. A triage that would be impossible to beat.

Uncertain and in need of a scoring big man, the Bulls did the smart thing, ditching the sweepstakes by signing Carlos Boozer; a guy who had toyed with the idea of signing in Miami with Wade early on. Boozer has solidified the Bulls, a group of team players who have the gel, firepower, and defense to terr Miami and many other elites a new one. They are the victors in this all, losing out on Bron, Wade, and Bosh, but as of today, with a core of Rose, Boozer, Noah, and Deng, are 3-0 against the Miami “Meat”.

Had LeBron stayed in Cleveland, I believe either Amare or Bosh would of paired with him there. This would have made the Cavs a bigger threat in the postseason and kept them at the top of the Eastern Conference food chain. Wade would of signed alone in Chicago, becoming the face of a fresh franchise. Bosh or Amare sign with the Knicks for top dollars. Boozer stays in the Western Conference and signs with his third choice, the Thunder.

Boozer in Oklahoma City voids the trade for Perkins because the Thunder as a small market team would be unable to take on his large contract extension. Therefore he stays in Boston, making our lives a lot easier because the Celtics are still, well, the tough-nosed Celtics.

…

Humanity relies on our greater purpose. We purport to have control over our circumstances, but life would say otherwise. Natural disasters, life decisions: good or bad, death, commerce, and history, creates a difficult and unsolvable equation. In the world of sports, things are the same. One player, just ONE, has the power to gamble away everything we knew or know. So let it take you, and dangle upside down. The dizzying merry-go-round of the world will, like a magician, continue to fool you.

Just because LeBron James has the power to shake the entire league, does not mean he is worthy of mention in the talk of all-time greats. Weren’t the Backstreet Boys a mentionable name in music in the late nineties? In and of the same, as of now LeBron, like Dominique Wilkins or Vince Carter, is a living highlight reel. Nothing more. His significance as a player took a nose-dive when he cowered as the face of a franchise and jumped ship to be a fellow juggler in a circus parade.

And as of now he can only juggle one, losing.

Go ahead, compare him with Charles Barkley. He was a unique talent that could also do things no one else in the league could for his particular sub-era. Charles, also like LeBron, after not being able to win a championship as a centerpiece, sought out another all-time great to try and fancy his finger with the ultimate shine. D-Wade, giving Hakeem a call at this point in time, might behoove you greatly.

Be my guest, compare him with Karl Malone. He also revolutionized a particular skill-set for his time and place. Try as they might, the greatest assisted connection of Malone and John Stockton could not reach the pinnacle. Karl, also like LeBron, “took his talents to a Beach,” this time Venice Beach, after his failure in the hopes of confetti and champagne in Utah.

The angle of these comparisons is simple: you can group James with a group of all-time greats if you so choose. Just make sure that group of all-time greats you are grouping him with is the one filled with the all-time greats that either never achieved championship immortality at all, or never won a ring as the heads-and-shoulders “best” player on their team.  Make sure to separate that group from guys that had the ultimate, the ring and the clutch gene that looks the penultimate in the face and laughs. To group James beyond this elite group is myopic, is in some way bias, and simply beyond a stretch of reality. He can sit at the Barkley and Malone table no problem; just don’t place him at the head table with Jordan and Bryant.

But hey, anyone can reveal “what is,” right? I’d like to burrow into “why.” What is below the surface? Why are his elite talents ostensibly devoid when it matters most?

I believe it is a culmination of many factors. It starts with a lack of humility. LeBron already thought he was much better than he actually was at a very young age. He was the guinea pig, the Neal Armstrong of today’s phenom basketball player that is coddled like a movie star from a junior high age. We are just now seeing the full tsunami of this generation come through the league, and LeBron was the Pioneer. Just search Sports Illustrated’s archives, and in February of 2002 you will find a barely 17-year old “Chosen One” in his St. Vincent – St. Mary Irish #23, trying to emulate some kind of Magic Johnson Showtime dime.

However, it goes beyond that. It stretches further than just a preconceived throne in all its majesty. His constant lapse in judgment seems to be an ever-progressing monster with James. He just can’t help himself. And even with the factor of the scrutiny of a microscope following him, he has exposed himself time and time again by saying or doing the worst possible thing at the worst possible time. How can this be explained?  Some people just have the virus of absolute obliviousness?

It has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with character. Be it on-camera during post-game interviews, he and Jim Gray wrapping uncomfortably for supposed production value before “The Decision,” or his constant spamming of ignorance on his Twitter feed.  There is, at its core, something missing with LeBron.

Most recently on Twitter, for LeBron it’s now “war,” he is a “soldier” and it’s time for “battle?” Does James even vaguely remember how Kellen Winslow, Jr. was vilified for the very same inconsiderate and insensitive statements no more than five years ago? You are supposedly a grown-ass man, LeBron. When will you start acting like one and not like a juvenile?  Champions don’t behave like this, do they?

I believe the road to making it right or at least respectable in the department of public relations starts with James cutting the fat of some of his supposed “advisors.” With LeBron, this is mostly a collection of his childhood friends.  I know if I had the friends of my youth helping advise me in my career, I’d end up selling hot dogs at Costco.

Advisors are supposed to give advice in the best interest of their “client,” right? What James could really use are less people to telling him what he wants to hear, and more people telling him what he needs to hear.   He needs less childhood friends and more of the industry’s best PR-geniuses. You have the money? The underlying fact of the matter simply is: surrounding yourself with gravy-training “yes” men has never ended up taking anyone anywhere close to their full potential.

All the analysis of this social ineptitude be as it may, let’s return to the bottom line of “on-the-court.” Recent examples relating to the overall theme being presented are becoming more and more prevalent. Just checking in with your favorite media outlet over the past two weeks will reveal as much. We don’t even have to begin to list the history of buzzer-beating failures from past seasons.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *

On Thursday versus their heated inter-state and Atlantic Division rival, the Orlando Magic, the ever-present issue reared its ugly head again. This time it capped off an implosion of epic proportions. With the Heat up 24 in the 3rd quarter, Orlando went on a 40-9 run, highlighted by Jason Richardson going 5-5 from behind the arc in the second half.

Despite the avalanche, the Heat had a chance to tie in the final possession. Chris Bosh badly missed on a 3-point attempt, and upon the Heat scrambling for the offensive rebound, Lebron had a wide-open 3-point attempt with only seconds remaining. The expected occurred once again.  These aren’t just insignificant regular season games that don’t matter anymore. This victory for Orlando pulled them to within 3.5 games of Miami in the Southeast division.

In the Heat’s last home game prior to this debacle, also they blew a lead in an eventual loss to the New York Knicks, this time of the 15-point variety. A clutch performance by Carmelo Anthony coupled with some stout New York defense lead to the Knicks taking the lead in the closing moments. With a chance to be the hero in the closing seconds once again, a James drive to the hole was thwarted by the shot-altering defense of Anthony and a greatly-timed blocked shot coming from the weak side by Amare Stoudamire. The “King” was again unable to rule.

On February 24th, The Chicago Bulls had their turn. What was different? The Heat didn’t blow a late-game lead this time, but rather were neck-and-neck with the vastly improving Bulls for the entire contest. What was the same? Lebron missing yet another clutch shot, this also an uncontested 3-pointer, down 3 with 15 seconds remaining. You are supposed to wear a crown? Maybe a court-jester cap is more suitable for right now.

These recent instances are obviously just part of a small sample size. That doesn’t make them any less relevant of a piece in the way the overall puzzle is being sculpted. Go ahead, put the pieces together yourself. It’s the same as what you see on the box cover – the “King” bricking another game-winning shot when it counts.

When trying to capture the overall implications of this most recent trade deadline, one needs to realize that there were a lot of risks taken and futures mortgaged. There hasn’t been a deadline similar to this in recent memory where so many superstars were swapped. Some trades could be honestly questioned. Some made complete sense. Some teams made out and some teams got taken for the proverbial ride. Let’s go ahead and delve into “who, to where, for what and why?”

The headline for months was the much hyped “Melo-drama,” as it was so cleverly described. We couldn’t see that one coming, could we? While ESPN’s Chris Broussard basically conjured the validity of a Carmelo Anthony for Andrew Bynum trade out of thin air, the real competition in the waning days for Anthony’s services was between New Jersey and New York.

It was much publicised that New Jersey was having significant talks with Denver up to about a month ago, when in a display of impatience, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov nixed all talks between the two. They became the New Jersey “Nyets.” Most thought this was due to Denver simply needing more in return for an Anthony package than New Jersey was willing to give up. The truth of the matter may have been that Prokhorov finally saw the light and realized what was truly going on.

It had been blatantly obvious from day one of all trade discussion that Carmelo wanted to be a New York Knick. He is from New York and saw playing in the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden, as a life-long dream. While the Nets have particular fan strongholds in the New York/New Jersey area, and even though they started vertical construction on their new Brooklyn Barclays Center three months ago, they are no competition for the Knicks as far as the brightly lit stage of the big city of dreams is concerned.

Prokhorov is no idiot. He is the 89th richest man in the world. You don’t find yourself at that level of wealth by getting played by 30-year old team presidents and general managers like Josh Kroenke and Masai Ujiri. He finally came to the realization that the Nuggets were only using trade discussions with his Nets as a leverage play against New York. If New York thought New Jersey was a player and had a legit shot to score Anthony, Denver could trade him to New York, where he was inevitably going to go anyway, for much less than they would have had New Jersey not been in the picture.

All of this front-office analysis aside, what does this trade do for the bottom line of buckets?

The Nuggets parted with a superstar in Anthony, as well as a serviceable point guard, albeit in the sunset of his career, in Chauncey Billups. The less newsworthy of these two players was a significant part of this deal. Billups still can hit big shots, is one of the best veteran leaders in the league, and will mesh with Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni’s run-and-gun system almost instantly. New York also got throw-in forwards; Renaldo Balkman, who was originally drafted by New York in 2006, and Shelden Williams, whose only note of significance in his meager NBA career has been being the husband of WNBA superstar Candice Parker.  Quite a resume.

The Knicks parted with a young and improving point guard in Raymond Felton, as well as New York sociological attraction, Italian forward Danilo Gallanari. Also headed to the Rocky Mountains are roundly-skilled forward Wilson Chandler and big-man project Timofey Mozgov.

The Nuggets got a full hockey line, but the Knicks got a superstar, a championship-seasoned veteran and two expiring and insignificant contracts. While each team got a lot of what they needed for the point each franchise currently is in their overall process, the advantage still has to go to the Big Apple. A top five superstar is a top five superstar, especially packaged with a solid veteran point guard.  You trade what is needed to be able to acquire these two if you are the Knicks, even if you have to give up your right arm and your first-born to get them.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *

A cornerstone and respected leader in this league, Jerry Sloan, retires? The longest tenured coach in the NBA just walks away after twenty-two seasons right in the middle of his twenty-third? Now that all-star point guard Deron Williams has been traded to New Jersey two weeks after this unpredicted turn of events, popular and reasonable belief can only consider two options as to why Sloan walked away. Either Williams did what he could to push Sloan out the door through open defiance simply out of his own choice, or the “bling” in his left ear that should belong on Kate Middleton’s finger whispered to do the same because old man Sloan was cramping his style. Either way, Williams played a part, and I have a feeling Jazz management and ownership saw the writing on the wall. The fact that Williams was going to become a free agent in 2012 only had something to do with his ousting. His attitude and arrogance is what ultimately got him shoved out the door and banished to one of the league’s worst situations.

Not only did Utah get to unload an egotistical malcontent, but they made out with the biggest trade deadline steal in recent memory. Williams may be arguably the most complete point guard in the NBA today, but he is still only one player. Last I checked, Deron Williams can’t pass the ball to Deron Williams.

In return for Williams, the Jazz received a solid point guard replacement in Devin Harris. They also acquired last year’s number two overall pick in the draft, twenty year-old potential-phenom forward, Derrick Favors. Giving up on this kid so soon is seemingly a display of impatient haste by the Nets, is it not?

What a great deal for the Jazz, given there was no way Williams was going to resign with Utah after next season, right? Well, that’s not all they got. Let’s toss in two first-round draft picks, one from the Nets and one from the Golden State Warriors.  Both of these picks could very well be lottery picks, given the foreseeable ineptitude of New Jersey and Golden State in the coming years. Wait, that’s not all? How bout three million in cash for the pocket as icing on the cake? A top ten to fifteen point guard, a number two overall pick who is twenty, two potential lottery picks, and cash?  For one player?  Feliz Navidad, Utah.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *

In the most questionable move made when considering the implications of the real race for the ultimate prize this season, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge sent stalwart center Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City along with jitter-bug guard Nate Robinson. Wait, I thought Perkins getting hurt during last year’s finals was the sole reason you guys couldn’t get over on the Lakers, Danny?  He is supposedly that important to your team in crunch-time, yet he is this movable less than a year later? Sounds like that excuse back then was just a cry for a crutch, reminiscent of the squeaking from Paul Pierce’s wheelchair brakes. Yes, this trade has now proven that was in fact cow excrement you were smelling from the mouths of New Englanders after the Lakers were celebrating the spoils last year. How does your excuse look now, crybabies?

On the red-eye to the land of “chowdah” comes former Thunder forwards Nenad Kristic and Jeff Green. Green was originally drafted by the Celtics, and was then subsequently traded on a draft-day deal to the then Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen. Ainge was obviously high on Green that draft, but when given the opportunity to add a sharpshooter like Allen to the centerpiece of Paul Pierce and at the time, recently signed free agent Kevin Garnett, he sold out.

While that move then ended up helping bring a championship to Boston in 2008, Ainge now making the deal for Green reeks of desperation, ego, and a chance at some sort of twisted “I told you so.” When you consider the thought-process of the idea behind the trade, Ainge claiming Green could be the heir-apparent to Kevin Garnett, what he gave up to be able to claim this possibility is borderline comical.  Ainge trading Perkins for Green because he kind of ‘reminds’ him of Garnett is the equivalent of Mitch Kupchak trading Andrew Bynum for Thaddeus Young because he kind of ‘reminds’ him of Lamar Odom. Way to go, Danny. This is the move that people will point to when you are forced out the door in a few seasons.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *

As the schedule continues, unflappable to the time needed to digest all the recent changes in the league-wide chemistry, the positioning for playoff seeding will obviously become more heated than it has been to this point. Now comes this very segment we have all been debating for months, and with the shock of these recent moves, questions instantly arise:

Can the Lakers ‘flip the switch’ and make child’s play of the Western Conference like in recent years past?

Is the Spurs’ chase-rabbit record really who they are?  Did regular season records do anything for the Cavaliers the past two seasons? Can unproven playoff role-players like George Hill, Dejuan Blair and Gary Neal become championship-level counterparts?

Does Dallas still even have a seat at the Western Conference table?  Are they to be taken as a serious threat?

Is the addition of Kendrick Perkins the much needed ingredient of inside presence the Thunder need to be an actual and legitimate player in the Western Conference shakedown?

Can the defensive blockade Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls are displaying carry them up to the level of the Eastern Conference elite, and most importantly, carry them in a seven-game series?

Are Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy’s mess of wing players even relevant as we come down the finish line?

Will Danny’s Ainge’s ego in trying to prove he was right about Jeff Green cost the Celtics a realistic chance at the title in their now dwindling years near the top? I know this much for sure, Laker and Heat fans are ecstatic about the loss of Kendrick Perkins. The Lakers now hold a distinct size advantage and the Heat now don’t have such a size discrepancy against Boston.

And lastly, as far as the Heat, will the most gravy-trained collection of elite stars in recent memory topple the naysayers? Will they reach The NBA Finals in their first try at conceived and orchestrated glory? Good luck big three. You’re going to have to drag your dirty-dozen along with you en route to a title. The bricks of Mike Miller and James Jones are building a structure of mediocrity thus far for the level of overall talent you have boasted. The Heatles? Give me a break, “King.” Win something, then talk. I’ve never heard of a King who doesn’t have a crown, you paper champ.

*       *       *       *       *       *       *

Questions and vemon aside, when all is said and done, the choices made and paths sought at this deadline will effect these upcoming moves as much as they will effect numerous moves down the road. Some teams played for now and some teams played for later.  Playoff-time reveals destiny, and the free will of the trade deadline move-makers plays a major role in the fate of the actual move-makers on the court.  Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, the time to really make your move is upon us.

The hyped hoopla of the NBA all-star break is long gone (thank God). Now as we push through the final eight weeks of NBA regular season play, it is fitting to look forward to the postseason.  This article is as objective as possible. What I mean by this, is that no matter how much I hate the Lakers(this is true..want to be honest), they are a legitimate champion with the fire power to win championships for the next two to three years.

Before I continue with the rankings, I want to answer some of the questions the average fan has mused over this season:

1) Are we seeing the decline of Kobe Bryant? Yes and No. Kobe is 32. Whether we want to admit it, the guy has played professional hoops for fourteen years.  There has been a lot of wear and tear on the knees, which can be atributed to the lack of lift on his jumpshots, explosions toward the hoop, and that tired look in the closing stretches of big games. Nonetheless we are talking about one of the greatest this league has ever seen, and like MJ or Magic, Kobe is smart and should be able to find ways to turn it on come playoff time.

2)  Can the Heat beat the elite teams (top 5)? It should be noted that as of today, the Heat are 0-6 against the top five teams in the NBA.  Yet I think we can all admit that when a lineup boast the likes of Bron, Wade, and Bosh, the likelihood of that zero remaining in the win collumn come playoff time, is a silly assertion.

3) Is a power shift occuring from West to East? Yes. The East is the strongest it has been in quite sometime with the “mighty 3” in Miami, a healthy Boston, Chicago’s flowering from young promise to seasoned reality, Atlanta’s firepower, Orlando’s depth, and now, the rebirth in New York.  I believe that the biggest shift is occuring with the Knicks resurgence. Two superstar faces like Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony joining the Eastern Conference not only enhances the Knicks as a team, but switches some popularity from West to East. Not to mention the trade of Deron Williams to the Nets, continues in a trend of big name stars exiting  the Western Conference.  The West from seeds 6-8 in the postseason is still legitimately stronger, but that gap is closing.

NBA Rankings

1. L.A. Lakers (40-19): I know, I know, this seems cliche. But like the Bulls dominated stretches in the 90’s, the Lakers have been nearly as dominant in the 21st century’s first decade. The last ten years the Lakers have won five titles, been in seven finals, and are built with a team now that can find ways to win come playoff time. This year’s team has underachieved, no doubt.  Yet how dominate is a team that underachieves at 40-19? They remind me of the first three-peat Bulls team that limped to a 57-25 finish and a #2 seed in the East. No Kobe is not Michael, but Michael never had the likes of Pau, Odom, Artest, and Bynum.

2a. Boston Celtics (41-15): This team wins when it matters most.  This is the best this team has looked in three years, as each of their “big-3” are healthy and playing the best ball of the season. Pierce has increased his shot production–which was down the last two years–attributing to his increase in points per night by nearly two. Allen is smooth as silk and KG is playing with the fire necessary to drive this unit. Add in dime dropping Rondo, a somewhat motivated Shaq, bench sparks like Big Baby, and this team will be tough to beat at home this postseason.

2b.San Antonio Spurs (47-10): The most fad and cliche pick this season is San Antonio. Why? Their dominate start at 47-10, does not spell championships.  Having three guys like Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili leading the way is huge. They have won three titles in the Century’s first decade, and have the poise necessary to help their young stars stay calm in the postseason. At the same time, this team has relied on the thirty three year old Ginobili like never before. With Duncan having his least productive scoring season of his career (13.6), the Spurs have become more of a run n’ gun team with isolation sets for the aging Ginobili. Ginobili has been brittle for most of his career, which scares me come playoff time. But with Pop at the helm,  three guys hungry for their fourth ring, and the best record against the top ten teams this season (.688),  I have to give them the cred necessary.

3. Miami Heat (42-16):  If this was a ranking for most intriguing and dramatic, then the Heat would rank atop this list.  The league learned a huge lesson in 2004, when the Lakers, boasting the likes of Shaq, Kobe, Malone, and Payton, lost to a group of role guys — the Pistons. The inconsistency of this method makes me question whether or not the Heat’s big three will know when and where to demote their shot to one another. I also wonder whether or not the lack of a post presence will burn them when facing a team that plays tough perimeter defense.  Who scores inside? Until that is answered, I cannot in good faith put a team with no post presence and an 0-6 record against the top 5 teams at the top of this list.

4.Chicago Bulls (39-17): The Bulls are like a wine that has finally fermented to a perfect age. Plenty of tannin: 3rd in team defense, Robust flavors: increased scoring, Flowering nose: go to guy like Derick Rose, and Complexities: better depth–Boozer, Deng, Noah, Brewer. The ascension of Derick Rose from semi-star to a top 3 point guard in basketball, has legitimized the Bulls come playoff time with a serious scorer who has the ability to put this team on his back. When you add in a healthy Boozer (19.9 pts a night), and the comeback of defensive minded Joakim Noah, this team has the components to challenge anyone. The addition of Carlos Boozer has given the Bulls a legitimate 2nd scorer and the post offense they have lacked the last three years.  One concern? 25-4 at home, but just 13-13 on the road.

5. Dallas Mavericks (41-16): This is where things get murky.  I know the Mavs are arguably the most disappointing franchise of this Century’s first decade. Their collapse against the #8 seed Warriors in the 1st round of 2007 still lingers in many peoples minds. But this is not 2007. The Mavs have the 2nd best record against the ten best teams in the league, 4th best against the top five. They are the most balanced team at Home (22-8) and Away (19-8), which means they can beat anyone, anywhere. They are in the top-5 defensively and can score, ranking top-10 offensively. Add in a winner like Jason Kidd, a go to guy like Dirk, sparks like Marion, Terry, and Stojakavic, and this team realistically could make a deep run in the playoffs.

6. Oklahoma City Thunder (36-20): The trade for Nate Robinson and Kendrick Perkins from Boston, gives the Thunderdepth on their bench and solidifies a struggling defense. With Perkins now in the front court, the Thunder can defend any big in the postseason. One question though, is who scores besides Durant and Westbrook? Trading Jeff Green to the Celtics, proves the Thunder were not willing to continue giving  the underachieving Green a shot. Yet without Green, the Thunder will look for scoring from Jeff Harden, who has yet to develop into the scorer we thought he would be in the pros.  At the same time, this team thrives on defense. Their dip in this area is the reason for the trade and should re-center them defensively come postseason. Not to mention they are confident, after nearly knocking off the #1 seed Lakers last season in the 1st round.

7. Orlando Magic (36-22): It seems the Magic are once again lost in la la land. After losing in 1995  to the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals, the Magic splintered and went into a fourteen year drought. Now nearly two years later since losing to the Lakers in the Finals, the Magic are the worst they have been in three years. They are still very good defensively (top 5) , but struggle offensively at times. Why? Their reliance upon the defensive-minded Dwight Howard proves such. Despite Howard’s career year (22.4 pts), the Magic are scoring nearly seven points lower this season and shooting the three-point shot eight percent lower than last season. Attempting to run a post offense has never been who this team is; a run and gun, fast paced, three point shooting team. Incredibly deep, it seems the Magic are deep with the wrong players: shoot first, oft injured point guards in Gilbert Arenas and Jameer Nelson, a one-hit wonder forward in Turkoglu, and an erratic scorer in J-Rich. I argue that the move for Vince Carter a year and a half ago set this team back a few years.

8. Portland Trailblazers (32-25): Despite Brandon Roy’s banged up body, the Blazers continue to stay afloat with great defense (top 7), an emergent star in Lamarcus Aldridge, and a group of roll guys like Rudy Ferndandez, Andre Miller, Nicolas Batum, Wesley Mathews and Marcus Camby.  They are tough to beat at home, and play with a poise necessary to win tough games on the road in the postseason. The trade for Gerald Wallace from Charlotte, should take pressure off of Roy offensively and gives the Blazer another  facet on a dangerous unit.

9. Atlanta Hawks (34-23): It seems every year, we wait for the Hawks to become a dominate force in the Eastern Conference. This year is not the year. Once again, they are a middle of the pack team with the elements  to beat anybody. The trade for Hinrich from the Wizards is silly, considering they lose a talented veteran point guard in Mike Bibby for a disappointing, aloof point guard in Hinrich. Nonetheless a lineup withguys like  Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and a bench with the likes of super- sub Jamal Crawford, gives this team the ability to beat much of the top teams comes postseason. Unfortunately ability is not reality, and I don’t think Joe Johnson is right star to lead them to greatness.

10. New Orleans Hornets (34-25): Yes the Hornets are renewed after their disappointing 09-10 season. But they still lack a true post presence with the a more defensive minded Emeka Okafor. Disappointments like Trevor Ariza, have caused the Hornets to take a step back offensively, after being one of the top teams two years ago.  The leagues top team defensively, the Hornets cause a bunch of turnovers and can get in the open floor. Chris Paul and David West drive this team, but they lack the cohesiveness on offense to make a  run.

11. Memphis Grizzlies (32-27): I love this team. They are still two years away from really competing. But when you boast a lineup with a star in Rudy Gay, an up- and- coming point guard in Mike Conley, a front court with two tough nosed guys in Zack Randolph and Marc Gasol, you’re destined to be really good.  I like the Battier trade, because it further strengthens their defensive prowess and gives them the veteran necessary come playoff time.

12. New York Knicks (29-26): The Carmelo trade makes things interesting out East. Melo gives this team the star wing player they’ve been lacking. Add in a veteran winner like Chauncey Billups, and return- to- dominance Amare Stoudamire, and this team has the trio necessary to bounce a higher seed early. The Knicks are my definite dark horse come playoff time.

13. Utah Jazz (31-27): Did I like D-Will in Utah blue? Absolutely. Do I think the Jazz made out well in the trade? Yes. I am never a proponent, as most of you aren’t, for sending your franchise guy in a flash trade. But the Jazz got a looming star point in Devin Harris, a project talent in Derrick Favors, two first round picks, and a nice pod of  three million. With bigs’ like Al Jefferson, and Paul Milsap, this team has the players to compete for the next five years.

14. Philadelphia 76ers (28-29): The Sixers are balanced: middle pack offensively and defensively. They have an exciting crowd pleaser in Andre Igoudala, and a nice blend of veterans–Elton Brand, with young talents–Thad Young. No point guard, and the disappointing rookie season of Evan Turner have this team looking on the outside in when it comes to seriously competing.

15. Phoenix Suns (28-27): Steve Nash just gets better and better with age. But who are we kidding? You have no shot when it comes to tired and old Vince Carter, and shoot first role guys like Channing Frye and Jared Dudley. And why trade for another bomber in Aaron Brooks?

16. Denver Nuggets (34-25): “Who needs Melo?”. Okay Denver, I loved that chant last night in a win over Boston. But…you went in the opposite direction with a trade that brought you an nonathletic wing in Galinari and a me-first wing in Chandler.  Your two central figures for the future should be Felton and Nene.

17. Golden St Warriors (26-30): The Warriors will not make the playoffs. And I don’t think the more you shoot the more you win. Except for Monta Ellis and Steph Curry, this team is awash in no-namer raw talents.

18. Indiana Pacers (26-30): What is the hype with Indiana? I cannot figure it out. Collison is not a franchise point guard, and just because you have a seven footer in Roy Hibbert averaging 13.3 pts, 9.0 reb, does not mean you are going in the right direction. Is it just me, or is the streaky shooting Danny Granger becoming the most overpaid wing in hoops?

19. Houston Rockets (28-31): This team is multi-talented and can win without a guy like Yao. But that was when they had a point guard–trading Aaron Brooks to the Suns for Goran Dragic is silly, and a wing like Ron Artest. I also think the trade of Battier to Memphis is perplexing, considering Battier was their defensive heart and soul. Sorry Scola, you are now stuck in a bad situation.

20. Los Angeles Clippers (21-37): Finally this team is going in the right direction, with two franchise players in Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin. Ditching Baron for Mo Williams and JamarioMoon was smart. Davis was overpaid and screwed with the Clippers chemistry. Watch out next year, when they get Chris Kaman back from injury and gel for an entire off-season.

21. Charlotte Bobcats (25-32): They start Kwame Brown–nuff’ said.

22. Milwaukee Bucks (22-35): I am a fan of the Bucks. They are a team of role guys who make it happen. Things caught up to them this season with the injury to Bogut and Jennings innability to rise into a star point.

23. Detroit Pistons (21-38): Hey,  how bout them Tigers?

24. Toronto Raptors (16-42): All I can say is that I like Calderon and their young prospect DeMar DeRozen.

25. New Jersey Nets (17-40): Things in Jersey are sad. Yes they just acquired Deron Williams from the Jazz, but they gave away their entire team doing it.

26. Minnesota Timberwolves (13-45): I know it sounds far-fetched but this team does have three good pieces to build around in Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, and Johnny Flynn.

27. Washington Wizards (15-41): The only bright side to things is that I truly believe John Wall will be a top five point guard in two years.

28. Sacramento Kings (14-41): Tyreke….ahhhhhhhhh…how can a multi-talented guy like you play so awkward?

29. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-47): It is comical when your biggest franchise face is Baron Davis. Bron Bron–bad on you.

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James over Derick Rose, though my heart believes it is Rose’s to win this year. Imagine the Bulls without Rose. Now imagine the Heat without James. Nonetheless it is more economical for the league to give James his third MVP in a row.

Rookie of the Year: Can you say Mr. Griffin in L.A.? Wow.

Most Improved Player: Roy Hibbert, C, Indiana Pacers. Numbers have doubled from last season, and he is now considered an up-and-coming franchise center.

Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich. Hard to argue with his team’s 47-10 start, considering they hardly cleared 50 wins the last two years. Their evolution proves Pop’s ability to quickly route a franchise into the right direction.

Playoff Darkhorse Eastern Conference: New York Knicks. It will be interesting to see if this team gets into a four v five matchupin the first round. With Melo, Amare, and Billups, they have the veterans and star power to surprise someone.

Playoff Darkhorse Western Conference: Portland Trailblazers. They fly under the radar because of the injury to Brandon Roy. But this team has enough without a healthy Roy to upend a conference elite. With Aldridge playing like he is, and the addition of Gerald Wallace, the hard nosed Blazers could make some noise come playoff time.

Finals Prediction: It will be an L.A. Lakers v. Boston Celtics rematch. Boston will have home court, which is huge. Series goes seven. I say it is a toss up. What do you think?