The United States Men’s Basketball team, the Redeem Team, went into the gold medal game against Spain last night, and captured the gold medal for the United States once again.  While the team may not have made it look as easy as they did in 1992, they certainly improved on the performances of the U.S. national team over the past few years.

It is hard to say that this team was led by any one player because they all contributed and they are all so good.  But some of the players who stuck out in my mind were Dwyane Wade (rejoice Heat fans, there is hope!) because of his resurgence after an injury plagued year, Chris Bosh who finally got the recognition that he deserves after being trapped in the media black hole of Toronto Raptors basketball, and of course Kobe Bryant and LeBron James simply taking over when it was crunch time.

To me, the most impressive thing about this team was not that they won by 30 or 40 points almost every game, the most impressive thing was how they went about winning.  This team tried their asses off every single game, and when they weren’t playing or practicing they were out watching fellow Americans.  This team was bigger than the individuals on it, it was even bigger than USA basketball, it was all about the USA Olympic Team, and that was refreshing to see.

I have no doubt that people will be saying that the celebration after winning gold was excessive.  People will say that they should have acted in a more reserved manner because they were the clear favorites going into the games.  I disagree on all counts with those critics.  Seeing the team celebrate like that after they won the gold medal made me realize that this team wanted it more than they could ever express in words.  They didn’t expect to win the gold, they expected a hard fight the entire way and while it appeared they were able to coast some of the time they never rubbed it in, they never showboated, and they always kept grinding and the result was an Olympic gold.

Over the past few weeks, the exodus to Europe has begun with borderline NBA players jumping to make the big colorful multi-sized bucks in Europe instead of struggling with an undervalued NBA contract.  Josh Childress spurred the Hawks to go Greek and play for Olympiakos, Delonte West has played with the idea of heading to Mother Russia to dish out dimes to Chekhov, and yesterday little Earl Boykins jumped to Italy to shoot meatballs and be paid as the highest player in Italy for the 2008-2009 season.  So what would someone like…say…LeBron James corner in the European market?  Well, the King is somewhat interested in finding out.

The NBA has come out and said that having players like Childress, Nenad Kristic and Boykins leave for Europe is only going to make the world’s perception better.  It’s hard to disagree with that.  Having a player like LeBron leave for Europe, however, will hardly have the same effect.  Having mentioned that he wouldn’t mind playing in Europe for somewhere around $50 million a year, a Moscow team as well as Olympiakos have both raised their eyebrows and began checking their ability to lure him in.  You can’t possibly tell me that the NBA would be happy with LeBron James, arguably the most recognized name in the sport, hooping in Russia or Greece instead of on primetime in Cleveland or New York.  As an avid basketball fan, I’d be pissed.  I don’t go to basketball games with any sort of regularity and, if I were to go, I’d go to see a select matchup such as Kobe vs LeBron or KG vs Duncan.  I don’t go out of my way to see Josh Childress play.  I do to see LeBron play.

I hope Jay-Z steps up to the plate in two years when LeBron’s contract runs out.  If a European team steps up to the plate and is willing to pay a ludicrous amount of money to bring LeBron in, however, we could see the beginning of the end of the NBA.  I’m not saying the league would fold, but the loss of the most significant players to Europe would cripple the Assosication from the inside.

Forget about going to Beijing and strictly dominating for a couple of games. I’m here to talk about the real reason Kobe and Lebron are fighting for Olympic gold. It’s not about the bonus money. It’s not about traveling to some faraway land. And it’s certainly not about creating the best highlights (even though we’re about to see the boys throw it down in a weeks). What’s it’s really about is the United States, the country that gives each and everyone of us freedom day in and day out. These players know what’s on the line in Beijing. They known they haven’t a won gold in eight years, but it’s time to put the USA back in the driver’s seat. I haven’t seen a group of players so energized and motivated to play for their country than this group. They want to win so bad, that if they lose and fail to get gold they will hide themselves in shame.

The following clip is from a series on ESPN called “Road to Redemption”. It follows the players and coaches of Team USA all the way up to the Olympic Games. In this segment, the team visits the Statue of Liberty and reflects on what the monument symbolizes. Kobe Bryant said it best when he mentioned the feeling and motivational aspects the team gets from the visit.”You have a dream when you get here in America. To go from the bottom to the top. This is our dream. Here and now. To bring the gold back to this country.”

I’ve seen LeBron James do some remarkable things in his five year NBA career. Last season, he led an awful Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals and this season, LBJ won his first scoring title and brought the Cavs within a game of the Eastern Conference Finals. If you missed James’ miraculous 45 point effort yesterday, you missed what we’ve known all along. LeBron James has historic ability and arguably the most pathetic supporting cast in the NBA. To aid the Cavs in building a championship team around #23, I offer a few offseason pointers for general manager Danny Ferry.

Look Into Replacing Mike Brown: Ideally, the Cavs could have crashed out in the 1st round, allowing them to enter into discussions with Mike D’Antoni. Brown’s IQ is right up there with the backboard at Quicken Loans Arena. After James’ dominating 1st half, Brown began the first half by calling several consecutive plays for gumpy center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Imagine James in an up-tempo system with a true point guard. He’s one of the strongest finishers we’ve ever seen, but he’s probably playing at about 75% of his true ability because of Brown’s awful system.

Take out the trash: This is made difficult because of the contracts some of these guys have. Hacks like Ben Wallace (signed through 2010), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (2010) Wally Szcerbiak (2009) have large, inflexible contracts that are nearly impossible to move. A friend of mine made an incredible point during yesterday’s game. The Cavs have over $20 million tied up in defensive “specialists” Wallace and Anderson Varejao…but simply cannot have them on the court at the same time.

Read the rest of this entry »

If someone were to ask me to give LeBron James criticism, I’d be hard pressed to create a substantial argument.  Tuesday’s game one debacle, however, revealed that the King is a mere mortal just like you and I.  Going 2 for 18 from the floor is just something that LeBron isn’t familiar with.  And something even more unlikely than LeBron’s game one disaster is a repeat performance of equal or greater disappointment.

Some nights, you just don’t have it.  How many lay-ups rattled in and out of the rim that night?  He’s a better player than that and he’s out to prove it.  Kobe Bryant was awarded the MVP hardware on Wednesday but, if you ask me, the King of Cleveland should have been the one hoisting the hardware.  No player does more for their team than LeBron does for the Cavaliers.  Before you scroll down and start cussing me out in the comment box, hear this.  There must be a distinction between the best player in the league and the most valuable.  Kobe Bryant is hands down the best player in the world.  Does he do a myriad of things that make the Lakers appear to be unstoppable?  Absolutely.  I contest LeBron does more.

Delonte West; an unproven commodity who has played for three teams in two years and isn’t a reliable scoring option but is capable of running the point despite looking like a 12 year old who stumbled into Quicken Loans Arena hoping to see Mickey Mouse on Ice.  Wally Szczerbiak; a wily veteran who makes a living on the three point line…but just barely.  Ben Wallace; a once cherished beast in the paint whose age has caught up with him while the days of 21 rebounds, 8 blocked shots, and 1 point are long gone.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas; soft Russian who spends way too much time taking shots from the elbow and not enough time swinging his communist elbows around in the paint.  This is what LeBron James has.  There aren’t any All-Stars on this roster.  There aren’t even any players on this roster who require the opposing team to game plan against.  Then theres the King, a guy who goes for 30, 9, and 8 a night and, if he doesn’t, the Cavs don’t win.  It’s that simple.  The Cleveland Cavaliers are a 15 win team sans LeBron.  With him, they’re the reigning Eastern Conference Champs and a team capable of either laying an egg and losing by 20 or blowing a team out of the water with a superhuman performance on any given night.  This is the essence of why LeBron James is the most valuable player in the league, more so than the best player in the league in Kobe Bryant.

Remember when Lebron James showed up at Jacobs Field with a Yankees hat on? Apparently, Mr. James is a hardcore Yankees fan. He’s so hardcore, Nike has taken his Zoom V’s and designed them into a Bronx Bomber edition. So now aside from sporting a Yankees hat in Cleveland, Lebron will now be rocking Yankees shoes in Cleveland.

Upon first look, you can’t really tell what the shoe is supposed to represent. However, with a glance at the tongue, the picture becomes crystal clear. Did Lebron become a figure at Monument Park recently? Nike all but guaranteed his place in the new Yankee Stadium with that little tidbit. The pinstripes on the side are in white, with the backdrop a dark navy blue. If Nike was going to go all-out with this sneaker, they should have gone with a white background with blue pinstripes. That would have been a lot more authentic.

Aside from the appearance, the shoe has some little hidden attributes that will surely get the city of Cleveland talking. Inside the tongue a description reads, “Le-Bron Jam-es, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap”. Are you kidding me? What a staple to this shoe! That alone should make you want to buy this if you are a fan of basketball shoes. With this design, James has suddenly become a living legend among the bleacher creatures! Also, I can’t forget the “New York, New York” insignia also on the flip side of the tongue.

LeBron was looking to honor the Yanks with this shoe and he’s certainly done it. This sneaker identifies the MLB team he holds closest to his heart. Is it cool what Lebron is doing? Hell yeah it is. Lebron is in Cleveland to play basketball, not baseball. Let the guy cheer for the Reds if he wants to; just has long as he pours his heart into playing for the Cavs. The only thing left for Lebron to do is start wearing these on the court. Imagine if he wore them at the upcoming All Star game in New Orleans!