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We here at Sportaphile are in the late stages of putting together the 2008-09 NBA Preview Package that will run next week. In the meantime, there was the strong urge to respond to the latest juice making its way around hoopsland. Honestly, I am writing this because I am starting to see some disturbing trends developing in Miami, and the common denominator equals one Michael Beasley. Will he be able to maintain the off-court pressure of being a star rookie playing so close to South Beach or will Pat Riley have to schedule an intervention for him by season’s end? I’m just saying… Who gets fined $50,000 before ever receiving their first NBA paycheck?

This late breaking news on Thursday caught many eyes primarily because Beasley is apparently receiving the stiff penalty for not being a stand-up guy about his role in the much-talked about incident involving Darrell Arthur and fellow Heat rookie Mario Chalmers. The dust had pretty much settled on the storyline of alleged blunts and babes at the Rookie Transition Program last week. At least that was until the news of Beasley being hit with the 50k fine kicked it back to the forefront and oddly this pic surfaced, though the two aren’t related.

Or are they? Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been a strong critic of NBA commissioner David Stern over the last few years. There have been a few instances where he totally rubbed me the wrong way, with my major gripe being the infamous dress code forced upon its players. The specific banning of necklaces, chains, pendants, and doo-rags pretty much said “we don’t want our black players to look like black players”, and it pissed me off.

The latest crop of players like Josh Childress, Carlos Delfino and Juan Carlos Navarro leaving the NBA to play overseas has accidentally started a firestorm of interest from top stars like Kobe, LeBron, and Dwayne Wade. LeBron spoke up first by stating he’d be willing to entertain a $50 million dollar deal to jump ship. Kobe followed suit by saying he wouldn’t sign another NBA contract until he tested the global market.

“As players, the business of the game (is) evolving, I think free agency now is becoming a global thing …. When players become free agents, the team they’re currently with – their competition is no longer the rest of the teams in the NBA. But it’s global. So, the market’s opened up. So we’ll just have to see how the league responds to it.”

…..then Wade threw in his two cents…

“They throw 30, 40, 50 million a year at me? I can’t turn that down,” said Heat star Dwyane Wade, a free agent in 2010.

Ba-da-da-pa-paaaaaaaa I’m Lovin It!!!

Kobe is so popular that there is speculation that he will create an international bidding war. Check out this video of Kobe walking through the crowd at the Beijing Olympics, kids are crawling all over themselves just to touch his arm.

Leaving the NBA could potentially turn these men (Kobe and LeBron) into billionaires over time if they play their cards right.

Ex NBA referee Tim Donaghy is accusing the NBA of fixing two separate playoff games within the last six years. This is an absolute bombshell that threatens the NBA’s very existence as a respected sports organization.

NBA commissioner David Stern says Tim Donaghy is an admitted felon trying to say whatever he can to lighten his jail sentence, a statement that could very well be true. However, we also have to be mindful that it’s David Sterns job to protect the NBA at all costs, even if he has to lie, cheat and discredit someone who may be telling the truth.

The saddest thing about this, is that Donaghy claims NBA officials fixed game 6 of the 2002 western conference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. If you’re a regular reader of this blog you may remember this post I wrote about that game. I consider it one of the best playoff games I’ve ever seen (if not THE best), so it really sucks to have the entire contest be pulled into question.

Immediately following that game, tons of people questioned the refs for their decision making but it was forgotten. Donaghy’s accusations immediately gave those arguments merit.

What do you think about this entire ordeal?