Twitter family immmm backkk and Officially #TeamJordan @jumpman23 Ready to come fly with me?? #whynotlockerz.com/s/252234281

— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) October 11, 2012

Rumors about Westbrook joining Jordan Brand surfaced over the past few weeks. Westbrook is expected to be the face of the shoe brand now after it saw Dwyane Wade leave this summer. Westbrook will join Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony as part of the Jordan Brand family.

“We are very excited to welcome Russell to the Jordan family,” Michael Jordan said in a statement. “Russell’s style, both on and off the court, combined with his love and dedication to the game make him a perfect fit for the Jordan Brand. We love the drive and passion for basketball that Russell brings.”

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

As LeBron James capped off quite the spectacular year with a gold medal win over Spain in the Olympics, it sparked the most popular debate in the sport of basketball: Who is the greatest player ever?

Jim Boeheim got the ball rolling saying he used to think Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever but after spending six weeks with LeBron, was no longer sure about that.

Then everybody started voicing their opinions.

That’s enough about that though. What I’m curious about is where Kevin Durant fits in with all of this. When his career is over, where will we remember him on the hierarchy of greatest players ever?

Durant just finished his fifth season in the NBA so yes, it’s early on. But he’s already challenging LeBron in some respects and is widely considered the second best player in the NBA right now at just 23 years old. He won his third straight scoring title last season, has finished second in the MVP voting twice and has already led his team to the NBA Finals.

More than any other player in the NBA, Durant was put on earth to play basketball and to score in particular. But he’s not from the same mold as Jordan, LeBron or Kobe so we rarely talk about Durant as someone who could go down as the greatest ever. He’s been more one-dimensional so far in his career too, viewed as just a scorer who isn’t a great passer or defender yet.

Those things are all true and that’s why no one talks about him yet as a potential G.O.A.T. but he still has a very good chance to go down as a top ten or maybe even top five player ever.

Durant’s shot at being remembered that good will have a lot to do with team success. Right now he is part of the best young team in the NBA that is already good enough to compete for an NBA title. It’s easy to look at the Thunder as a team that will be able to compete for a championship for the next decade. They’ve been compared to and are modeled after the San Antonio Spurs, who won four titles in the Duncan era from 1998 until now. If Durant can do the same kind of thing in OKC, he will be remembered in a similar light as Duncan.

Durant also has a chance to go down as a historically great statistical player. He is obviously on pace to score about as many points as anyone ever. Durant’s game is still evolving though so it’s tough to know if he will be able to sustain being such a high-scorer later in his career.

To do this he will have to start going into the post more. He started doing this some last season and even implemented Dirk’s patented stepback jumper. If Durant can learn more from Dirk and develop the kind of post-up game Dirk has had these past few seasons, that would seem the most likely way to keep scoring at the clip he has been.

The top five scorers in NBA history right now are Kareem, Mailman, Jordan, Wilt and Kobe in that order. LeBron has a good shot to get into the top five by the end of his career. If Durant plays long enough, he has a really good chance to pass Malone and get within striking distance of Kareem or wherever Kobe ends up.

The other factor in determining Durant’s greatness is how good of a shooter he is. He has a legitimate chance to go down being remembered as the best shooter to ever play in the NBA. It’s something that isn’t debated about as much really because it’s hard to say what constitutes being the best shooter ever is.

We have Reggie Miller and Ray Allen who are known as the best 3-point shooters ever. Then there’s Bird, Dirk, Maravich and Nash who are often in the conversation. You can even make a case for a player like Steve Kerr as one of the best shooters ever.

Durant could define the debate with what he has a chance to do in his career. To be as skilled as he is at 7-foot tall with the kind of range he has is unprecedented. It would be hard for him to touch Reggie or Ray in terms of career threes made but he has a relatively easy chance to become third on the all-time list (now held by Jason Kidd).

Durant is a career 88 percent free throw shooter as well and shot just under 50 percent from the field last season. If he can string together some 50-40-90 shooting seasons while still scoring as much as he does, it will become tough to argue that he isn’t the greatest shooter ever.

So let’s say Durant wins like three NBA titles, retires as the league’s third all-time leading scorer, top five in points per game for his career and makes the third most threes all-time, that would put him right up there with some of the greats of all-time.

Again, it’s early and that’s a lot of pressure and expectations to meet but I kind of see that as his relatively conceivable ceiling. He’d end up right around Duncan-Shaq-Moses-West in the greatest of all-time rankings. I’d be good with that.

Now we can finally end the debate on which team is the greatest ever.

#NBA2K13 will feature the iconic ’92 Dream Team! Play as the greatest. Spread the word, tweet #NBA2K13 twitter.com/2KSports/statu…

— 2K Sports 2K12 (@2KSports) August 15, 2012

NBA 2K has been featuring classic teams since NBA 2K11 when Michael Jordan was on the cover and the “Jordan Challenge” was the big draw for the game.

NBA 2K12 stuck with the classic theme including Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on the covers as well and even more legends and classic teams.

One of the players that was most notably left out of NBA 2K12 was Charles Barkley. 2K Sports planned to have Barkley in the game and featured the 1985 Philadelphia 76ers and was also going to feature the 1993 Phoenix Suns but they couldn’t get him last year.

Barkley appears in the photo 2K released today standing with the rest of the 1992 Dream Team in digital form.

Scottie Pippen, however, will not be on the team which is a pretty big letdown. This also means Pippen probably won’t be on any classic Bulls teams which means maybe there won’t be many classic teams after all.

NBA2K13 game features every 1992 Dream Team player but Scottie Pippen. Couldn’t strike deal with ex-Bulls star.

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) August 15, 2012

2K Sports hasn’t released other information about which classic teams will be on the game but there should still be some. They did say they would be focusing more on the future than the past as evidence by their new cover athletes, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin.

2K Sports also announced a few days ago a major change to the controls. The right stick will now be used to control dribble moves. This was how dribble moves were controlled in some of the old NBA Live games. 2K is promising this will be a better version of that in NBA 2K13.

It has been impressive. He looks to be in his absolute prime. But now come the overreactions made possible by the idiots that were considered “haters” before he had won anything.

“I’ve always thought Michael Jordan was the best player that I’ve ever seen,” USA Basketball assistant coach Jim Boeheim said on Colin Cowherd’s radio show yesterday. “I always have and I didn’t think it was close. I’m not so sure any more. And I love Michael Jordan. I’m not so sure anymore.

“This guy is 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds, and he’s getting better. He works on his game. His shooting is getting better. He’s a phenomenal, phenomenal basketball player. I love his game; I love the history of this game. I know we’ve had great, great players through the years. He’s like Magic Johnson with Michael Jordan-type skills as well.”

Where this gets really stupid is at the end and a lot of people have been doing this lately. It’s when you say LeBron is Magic-plus-M.J. Sure, LeBron is a willing passer who gets like half as many assists as Magic and he’s one of the best athletes in the NBA kind of like how M.J. was the best athlete of all-time.

The real problem here though is saying LeBron has the skills Jordan did. What are you defining as skills here? LeBron is very skilled for his size, no one is questioning that, but Jordan was one of the most skilled players in the history of the game. His handle, footwork, shot creativity and defensive fundamentals are all significantly better than what LeBron’s are.

Everything LeBron does is based on his size and speed or his high basketball IQ (probably the highest in the NBA). Those aren’t skills, they’re just physical ability. He’s so different than M.J. the way he gets stuff done on a basketball court.

“He’s a 6-9, 260-pound point guard-forward-center,” Boeheim went on to say. “He guarded the post guys. They always say a guy can guard five positions, I’ve never seen that. I’ve heard about it. This guy can guard five guys. He can guard your center, he can guard your small forward, big forward, point guard, two guard. You put him on anybody and he can guard them.”

People need to stop with this thing where you say LeBron can guard positions 1-5. I understand he is the most versatile defender in the league but it’s not like he’s shutting down Russell Westbrook or Dwight Howard. He can’t guard guys like that. He can guard 2-4 very well and at times can contend with 1’s and 5’s. There, that’s fair.

This is not a knock on LeBron though in any way. The player he is right now is fine which is obvious since he is winning everything right now (that’s part of why the MJ-comparison will always be unfair). The problem is with Boeheim and every person out there who is so obsessed with attaching themselves to greatness, making them feel warm and important inside I guess.

I get the thing where you go to London for two weeks and watch LeBron play the best he ever has and come away thinking he is the greatest thing ever. It’s like whenever you watch any documentary out there and then after think it’s the greatest thing ever. It reels you in and magnifies the importance of whatever it is.

The difference is smart people, or people who think before they talk, should be able to realize this, take a step back and assess the situation. Boeheim was not this when he joined Cowherd’s radio show.

No one should be able to watch LeBron up to this point in his career and say that he is going to become greater than Jordan, or even worse, Magic-plus-Jordan. It just doesn’t make sense to believe that.

I guess there is a scenario out there that is possible just like there is a scenario out there where the 2012 Olympic team “could” beat the 1992 Dream Team if they played. That doesn’t make them greater though.

For what it’s worth, here is how I assess LeBron so far and how I think his career will play out:

Statistically he is on a Wilt-like level so far in his career. He’s been the best player in the NBA for the last three years or so and he will probably continue to be the best for another three or so. A 6-year window of being the best player is pretty hard to do.

I would predict LeBron wins 3-4 championships in his career. That would just about meet expectations. Every time he wins, he should be the Finals MVP too, unless he gets a title or too very late in his career.

Ultimately he will be considered a top eight player of all-time at least. The players probably ahead of him will be: Jordan-Russell-Kareem-Magic-Bird-Wilt-Kobe-Duncan. He’ll be in front of Robertson-Olajuwon-West-Moses-Shaq. I think LeBron could get right around No. 5 best ever, next to Magic and Bird but I doubt we ever consider him top three.

If that makes me a hater then so be it.

Kevin Durant will star in what undoubtedly will be a huge box office hit later this year, his movie Thunderstruck.

In the movie, a young kid (with no basketball skills), is a huge fan of Durant and wishes more than anything in the world that he had Durant’s talent. He ends up getting to go to a Thunder game and take a half court shot at halftime.

Now this is where it gets interesting and I hope you’re sitting down for this. The kid meets Durant and Durant signs a ball for him and when he hands it over to him, he also gives him all of his basketball talent.

This is a brand new twist in a basketball movie that involves an NBA star. It’s totally different than Space Jam or Like Mike.

You will have to wait until Aug. 24 to find out what happens next. The movie is going to be very good, that’s all I know for sure.

Durant will be awesome though all kidding aside. Not necessarily in an acting sense but seeing him on the big screen like this will be cool. He doesn’t have the personality of a Michael Jordan but he will do his own thing in this movie and it will be amazing.

NBA 2K13 continues to be innovative every year in finding ways to draw more fans. They have the best basketball product on the market but they don’t stop there.

Two years ago they included Michael Jordan and the Jordan Challenge in NBA 2K11. Last year they added even more legends by popular demand featuring Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on the game’s cover along with Jordan.

This year NBA 2K13 will be partnering up with Jay-Z who is coming on to serve as executive producer.

“This has been a unique opportunity to collaborate with 2K Sports and be a part of one of the best sports video games in history,” Jay-Z told 2K Sports. “NBA 2K13 will be the next evolution in sports and basketball culture, and I’m ready to usher in the new era of the franchise.”

The move to include a Hip Hop legend in Jay-Z was again a very savvy one by the 2K Sports team. With the Nets moving to Brooklyn for next season as well, it’s even more fitting.

“We aren’t content with just being the best, and we will continue to grow the NBA 2K franchise into one of today’s premier entertainment experiences,” Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports said. “Jay-Z’s role in NBA 2K13 represents a unique fusion of basketball, music, art, and entertainment, and illustrates the evolution of NBA 2K into something much bigger than simply the best basketball video game series ever made.”

2K Sports also announced today the soundtrack for the game which will include many songs by Jay-Z himself.

Credit: NBA 2K13 Facebook page

It was revealed a few weeks ago that Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin would grace the cover of the game. NBA 2K13 will release on October 2, 2012 in North America.

Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

There has been a ton of talk and debate surrounding who would win between this 2012 USA Olympic Basketball team and the 1992 Dream Team.

Kobe Bryant got things started when he originally said he thought the 2012 team would beat the Dream Team. Then the likes of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley came out laughing at Kobe’s remarks.

Now, LeBron James has echoed Kobe’s statement telling ESPN: “The ’92 Dream Team paved the way for all of us… We understand what they did for our game, but we also are big-time competitors as well, so if we got the opportunity to play them in a game we feel like we would win too.”

What are LeBron and Kobe really supposed to say though? That they would get killed if they played the ’92 team? Of course neither of them would say that.

The biggest problem with all of this is how the question is being phrased to these guys. It shouldn’t be asked: “Could you beat them?” It should be: “Which team is better?”

Both teams are loaded with a ton of talent and there is a scenario out there in which the 2012 team could beat the Dream Team even though the Dream Team is without question the better team.

“It would be a tough one but I think we would pull it out,” Kobe said at a news conference. “People who think we can’t beat that team for one game, they are crazy. To sit there and say we can’t, it’s ludicrous. We can beat them one time.”

Kobe’s right. They could beat them once. It might take a few tries but it could happen.

That’s really enough though with comparing these two teams. The debate was never really one anyway. The Dream Team is the best ever and that’s that.

Team USA will begin playing in the Olympics Sunday and that’s what the focus should be on from now on.

A few members of the 2012 Olympic USA Basketball team were asked to come up with a starting five including themselves and four other members from the 1992 Dream Team.

Chris Paul, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love were asked this question and all answered about the same. All of them picked Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley. Harden, Westbrook and Love chose Larry Bird as well while Paul took David Robinson.

Almost none of these starting fives make sense if you had to play this game, mainly because Bird really shouldn’t have been picked by any of these players. It seems everyone loves forgetting how past his prime Bird was in 1992.

These current players are also very affected by the fact that Barkley and Magic are on T.V. these days and don’t remember some of the other options that would have made sense like Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing or Scottie Pippen.

The question really is: If you could combine the 1992 Dream Team and 2012 Olympic Team, what starting five would you ultimately put out on the floor?

PG – Magic Johnson
SG – Michael Jordan
SF – Kevin Durant
PF – LeBron James
C – Patrick Ewing

It’s really tough to go wrong with any combination. Jordan and Durant are probably the most obvious ones because Jordan was the best player ever and Durant’s game is so perfect for international play with the short 3-point line.

I like LeBron at the four because he can handle that spot and it gives the team more versatility. It may actually make more sense though to move LeBron to point instead of Magic and start Barkley or Malone at the four.

Magic is just so perfect on team with multiple scoring options so it’s hard to consider not starting him.

And here is who I’d have coming off the bench as the second 5-man lineup:

PG – John Stockton
SG – Clyde Drexler
SF – Scottie Pippen
PF – Charles Barkley
C – David Robinson

That’s right. The ultimate team would have a 10-man rotation with only two players coming from the 2012 team.

The toughest decision was Drexler over Kobe Bryant. Kobe is just too old right now and these teams are all about getting out in the open floor. Drexler has the advantage in ’92 over Kobe now in that department so that’s why I went with him. Plus, Kobe would hate coming off the bench in general so he’d probably refuse to even play on the team.

Now there’s only one thing to do: fire up NBA 2K12 and play with this team.

Jordan surprises no one here as he, like fellow Dream Teamer Charles Barkley, knows there is no way that Dream Team is losing.

Jordan told The Associated Press Thursday that he laughed, “I absolutely laughed” when hearing Bryant’s comments that the squad training in Las Vegas could take Jordan and company.

Jordan says there was “no comparison” which team was better, adding that Bryant comparing the two teams “is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done.”

via ESPN

Kobe’s comments are probably being taken a little too seriously right now. It’s not like Kobe said he thinks the 2012 team would kill the Dream Team or anything. He just said he thought they could take them. What’s he supposed to say?

Jordan and Barkley have to feel insulted though when they hear anything about the Dream Team and losing. It just couldn’t happen in their eyes and they’re probably right

We quickly forget the past in sports so much while so eager to crown new stars. Luckily we have egos like Michael’s and Chuck’s to keep us in line.

Kobe Bryant was asked if he thought the 2012 Olympic Team could beat the ’92 Dream Team and said, “I think we’d pull it out.” In describing the potential matchup, Kobe said the ’92 team would have an advantage inside but that their wings were a lot older.

Charles Barkley responded to Kobe’s comments a little more confidently.

“I just started laughing,” Barkley told The Mike Missanelli Show. “How old is Kobe Bryant? He’s 34? And he’s calling us old? At the time, we were only like 28, 29. Michael Jordan and me were the same age. We were both 29. Other than Kobe, LeBron (James) and Kevin Durant, I don’t think anybody else on that team makes our team.”

So what would happen if these two teams did played? How would each player do and which team would win?

The game would obviously be played with FIBA rules. These rules have affected the more recent U.S. Olympic teams and the rules would affect this game somewhat but it wouldn’t be as drastic since both teams are comprised of NBA players.

Both the ’92 team and this year’s team take advantage of their ability to pressure other countries’ guards in the backcourt. That wouldn’t happen in this matchup and the pace would resemble more closely an NBA game.

Let’s go through the matchups.

David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone vs. Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin

This is the most obvious advantage for the ’92 team. Their size advantage would be tremendous and it probably would prove impossible for this year’s team to overcome.

Looking at the rosters it feels like Chandler would have to try and play the entire game for the 2012 team. Love and Griffin would have no chance against Robinson-Ewing-Malone.

The ’92 team definitely gets a huge edge here and would get a ton of second-chance looks and be able to run much more of their offense in the post.

Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin vs. Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook

These are the backup wings that would get the most run. Let’s assume that Bird, Laettner, Iguodala and Harden don’t play much in this matchup.

This one is a little closer and maybe a tossup between the two teams. All four of these players should be effective in this game but not enough to swing the game either way.

Westbrook may have the most trouble because he will be playing the two-guard for the 2012 team and matching up with Drexler or Jordan will be very tough for him.

Carmelo could be effective on offense playing the four but would have trouble on defense and rebounding.

Mullin went 14-for-26 on threes in the ’92 Olympics so would be pretty automatic if left open. Drexler’s specialty would be an automatic two points on the fast break.

Magic Johnson, John Stockton vs. Chris Paul, Deron Williams

Magic was past his prime in ’92 but not by that much. Stockton was realizing his though so the ’92 team would have another advantage here.

Magic would be a huge mismatch problem of course and whenever Paul was on him he would probably take him into the post. This would be near impossible for the 2012 team to contend with.

If Magic has to try and guard Paul then that’s not a great thing for the ’92 team though.

Magic’s personality would win out though. When you envision this matchup you envision him dominating, talking trash throughout the game and picking up a ton of assists.

This one is close but an advantage again for the ’92 team.

Charles Barkley vs. Kevin Durant

Barkley and Durant won’t necessarily be guarding each other in this matchup but their effect in the game would be similar. Both would score a lot of points, possibly leading their team in that department.

Durant might be the best international style player ever and would be a really tough matchup for the ’92 team especially with the shortened 3-point line.

With the 2012 team’s lack of size, Barkley would feast on them down low. Barkley will struggle with whoever he has to guard though on the 2012 team.

This one is a tossup too. The point being that these two would both underrated-ly dominate in this game and score a ton.

Scottie Pippen vs. LeBron James

LeBron is obviously the better player but Pippen is probably the best shot at guarding him. In this setting, LeBron is not his usual dominant self and defers more than ever to teammates so Pippen should be able to do a decent job on him.

LeBron might be asked to do other things like guard Barkley or Malone or even Magic at times.

This one is closer than you think but the edge has to go to the 2012 team.

Michael Jordan vs. Kobe Bryant

This is really what this matchup would come down to. Not because they are the two best players but because you know if somehow these two were able to go at it like this, they wouldn’t hold anything back.

The matchup is really not close at all. Kobe is a shell of himself while MJ was at the peak of his powers in ’92. Even Kobe in his prime vs. this MJ would have no chance.

It would be the coolest part about this matchup though watching MJ and Kobe isolate on each other. Jordan would torch Kobe though and shut him down on the other end.

The 2012 team should probably put LeBron on Jordan but there’s no way Kobe would allow that by backing down from the challenge so get ready for Jordan doing pretty much whatever he wants while Kobe has a nice 6-for-19 shooting night or something.

This is where we stand. At the end of the day no one is beating the Dream Team. They are the best basketball team ever assembled and having the best player ever playing in his absolute prime is a big reason why.

We’ll never truly know what would happen though but it’s always fun to think about.

The 2012 team will kick off their exhibition games tonight at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN vs. the Dominican Republic. The London Olympics begin July 27.

Durant, Rose and Griffin are three of the league’s hottest young stars which is clearly something 2K Sports is trying to sell with this year’s game.

The past two years, the NBA 2K series has focused on legends including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. That was especially convenient for last year’s game which was released while the NBA lockout was going on. Reminiscing with the legends was a perfect cure for NBA lockout withdrawals.

Focusing back on the present and the future of the league was the right step for NBA 2K13. Durant, Rose and Griffin certainly represent that to the fullest.

This is actually the second time Durant has been on the cover of an NBA video game with the first time coming for NBA Elite 11, a game that was planned to release in 2010 but delayed and later canceled by EA Sports basically because they knew NBA 2K11 would blow it out of the water.

Many people thought LeBron should have been considered for the cover but the decision was obviously made awhile ago as to who would be selected. LeBron’s recent ascension as an NBA champion was unable to influence who NBA 2K13 chose for their cover.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

So LeBron James has now won a championship. Now what?

It feels like for the past five years or so, so much of the energy we put into watching the NBA was all whether or not LeBron was going to win a title.

LeBron received more heat for not winning until this season than he probably deserved. He was criticized for The Decision and then mocked at after choking in the 2011 NBA Finals.

The haters are supposed to go away now that he has won. The stupid LeBron criticism is over. Now it’s time to take a step back and look at what this really means for his legacy.

Well, it doesn’t mean anything yet. Winning one title was never LeBron’s destiny. He doesn’t now deserve a crown. This was simply inevitable and it happened right around the time it should have, maybe a year too late.

He played his ninth season this year and is 27 years old. Michael Jordan got his first ring in his seventh season and was 28 years old. So it’s not like he took that long to win a title.

When he came to Miami to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, it was to start a dynasty. They talked about it in their introduction party. They don’t want to win just one.

Two years in, they’ve been to two NBA Finals already. The fact that they have accomplished that so soon isn’t a surprise though or a testament to how great they are.

They should have done what they have so far. The balance of star power in the NBA right now is perfect for LeBron to start winning titles.

Who is his greatest competition? It’s 23-year old Kevin Durant and despite the Thunder already making it to the Finals, no one really expects them to start winning titles just yet.

Other than Durant, Kobe is on the way out, Dwight Howard is a mess and Derrick Rose is in the same boat as Durant.

This is how the NBA works. For the most part, you have to wait until it’s your time. So rarely does a team as young as the Thunder win a title when someone like LeBron is in the league, in his prime.

If the Heat just win this one title, in a lockout season, in a season where Derrick Rose tore his ACL, they and LeBron would be considered a failure and rightfully so.

How much do they need to win to not be considered a failure? Two might be enough, three probably should and four would truly silence any possible critics. Four out of seven seems about right.

The window is smaller than people may think for the Heat to become a dynasty. If anything, after watching their first two seasons and the way the team has looked, it doesn’t feel like they will be a dynasty capable of winning four titles.

Rose and the Bulls are right on their heels in the East, although it remains to be seen if they could beat the Heat in a series. Durant and the Thunder have frightening amounts or potential.

LeBron may only be 27 now but Wade is already 30 and considering the way he plays and how injury prone he looks, the window for him playing at this level isn’t much longer.

The Heat have some time though to figure some things out. They will need to improve next year to potentially repeat and protect their title. No one repeats without getting better. The second straight title is always the toughest.

Improving means getting some better pieces to surround LeBron. It worked well this year considering the matchups Miami had but this core is far from complete. They know it though and if they are fortunate (and every champion is) they will find the pieces.

So for now, LeBron’s legacy is closest to Moses Malone, a top 15 player ever most likely. If he gets only one more, he’ll be compared to Wilt. A third and he will be right next to Kobe and Duncan.

If LeBron gets four, he will approach Magic and Bird. And he’s not touching Kareem, Russell, MJ.

Remember, Magic and Bird needed each other to reach their greatness. If we’re lucky, the same will be said one day about LeBron and Durant.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat matchup is a dream come true for NBA fans as it pits arguably the two most talented teams against each other with the two most talented players.

LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant.

It’s the matchup we always wanted: the two best players in the NBA to lead their teams to the NBA Finals and square off.

One of the special things about this matchup is that LeBron and Durant play the same position. They will be guarding each other throughout the entire series. And each has advantages against the other.

LeBron is of course the ultimate athlete with his strength and power being his greatest advantage. Durant has traditionally struggled somewhat against more physical defenders with LeBron fitting that exact mold.

Durant is taller than LeBron, listed at 6-foot-9 but may be closer to 7-feet according to many NBA players. He can give LeBron trouble using his length. He can play off him on defense and entice LeBron into shooting jumpers.

LeBron is the better all-around player and was the MVP this year rightfully so but he’s not better than Durant at everything. Here are their numbers from the regular season and then the playoffs.

It’s not that common for the two best players in the NBA to meet in the NBA Finals. It’s also not common for the two best players to play the same position.It doesn’t get much better than that. But is it the best individual matchup in NBA Finals history? It’s closer than you think.

We always hear Bird-Magic as the greatest matchup ever but the truth is those two rarely guarded each other. Not taking anything away from those ‘80s Celtics-Lakers series because they were the best NBA Finals’ ever.

Even looking back in 1991 at Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson matching up. They didn’t quite play the same position or guard each other much either. Magic vs. MJ might get the edge in LeBron vs. Durant in how big the names were, LeBron vs. Durant will be better in a lot of other ways too.

The only matchup in NBA Finals history that really is better than what we are about to see is Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain.

It sounds a little silly already comparing LeBron-Durant to Russell-Wilt but it really could be the beginning of the next great NBA rivalry.

The Thunder aren’t going away for awhile. They look like a team that could be dominating the West for 5-6 more NBA Finals appearances.

The Heat and LeBron are the same way. If the Thunder and Heat manage to meet in the Finals three or four times over the next five years, LeBron-Durant has the potential to turn into the greatest rivalry of all-time.

The first chapter begins Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant will be starring in a movie called ‘Thunderstruck’ based on a kid taking his basketball talent from him while Durant loses all of his talent.

Huh, pretty original.

It’s basically exactly like Space Jam except without Michael Jordan or Bugs Bunny.

Durant is amazing though in everything he does. He can do no wrong. If his acting skills from the Doodle Jump commercials are any indication, he will kill it in this film as well.

The film will hit theaters August 24.

Let the conspiracy theories begin.

As everyone knows, the Hornets have been owned by the NBA the past few seasons. The NBA is about to sell them to Saints owner Tom Benson but it is ironic that the one team owned by the NBA is the only team in this year’s lottery to move up.

Currently in a USA Today poll, 55 percent of people believe that the lottery was fixed last night.

Fixings and riggings have been surrounding the NBA for a long time with the notion usually being that certain things are better for the league like Patrick Ewing being drafted by the New York Knicks instead of the Indiana Pacers.

The entire lottery went chalk until New Orleans, who had the fourth highest chances to land the number one pick, jumped the three teams in front of them to snag it.

It wasn’t long ago that the NBA vetoed a trade sending New Orleans’ best player Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers stirring up more controversy with the league’s conflict of interest.

The team with the best chance to win the lottery, the Charlotte Bobcats, will now end up picking second in a draft where the difference between first and second may be greater than any other spot.

Michael Jordan of course owns the Bobcats and has been someone who has been centered around some conspiracy theories before in the league like when he retired in his prime to go play professional baseball.

If the league truly is fixed then we will see Miami in the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder: LeBron vs. Durant.

The Heat are already well on their way while the Thunder may need some Donaghy-esque help. Everyone get ready for Durant shooting 20 free throws per game the rest of the Western Conference Finals.

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder have found themselves in a tough spot. Being down 0-2 in an NBA Playoff series is not a good place to be.

In the history of the NBA, only 14 teams have comeback from a 0-2 deficit to win a playoff series. Three times it happened in the NBA Finals, three times it happened in the Conference Finals and three times it happened in a 5-game series.

The Thunder will have to do just that against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals if they don’t want their season to end.

The problem is that the Spurs are playing like the best team in the NBA right now. They’ve won 20-straight games, which is tied for the third most ever in the NBA, and haven’t lost since April 11.

But it has happened before and if there is one thing you can say about the Thunder it is that they never give up and stop fighting.

How do teams come back from a 0-2 deficit? What usually happens?

The Thunder can look at a couple of teams that may show them a possible blue print.

2007 ECF: Cavaliers beat the Pistons 4-2

LeBron James and Cleveland lose the first two games 79-76 each time in Detroit. Those weren’t fun games to watch.

Then LeBron makes the leap. He has the memorable 48-point game five and it feels like the NBA will never be the same because LeBron is becoming the most unstoppable force ever.

The Cavaliers would lose to the Spurs in the NBA Finals but LeBron gave us a glimpse of just how talented he could become.

Kevin Durant has a chance to do exactly what LeBron did in 2007 in this series. It’s time for him to step up and have a huge playoff series. Only once in his career has he averaged more than 30 per game in a playoff series.

Durant may need to suddenly jump to another level of greatness for the Thunder to win.

2006 Finals: Heat beat Mavericks 4-2

Dallas proves why they are a much better team than Miami in Games 1 and 2 then Dwyane Wade and the referees take over the rest of the series.

Wade shoots 739 free throws in the final four games of the series and puts up historic NBA Finals numbers.

The Thunder are a team with a ton of bogus-foul calls potential. Couldn’t you see Durant, Westbrook and Harden start flailing their bodies into the Spurs over the next four games and getting every call?

Doesn’t David Stern and the NBA want to see LeBron vs. Durant in the Finals? Let’s make this happen.

1993 ECF: Bulls beat Knicks 4-2

The Thunder are reminiscent in many ways of the late-80’s, early-90’s Chicago Bulls teams. They may not have a Michael Jordan but overall they look comparable from time to time.

The Bulls lost the first two games on the road to the Knicks in this 1993 series. Those games were physical and the Bulls were not in their usual rhythm until they returned home and showed why the more talented team won the series.

The Thunder and Spurs games haven’t been especially physical but the Thunder have been out of rhythm so far in the series and haven’t been playing to their potential yet.

There is a ton of potential for this series to look a lot different when it gets to OKC on Thursday and that could propel a Thunder comeback.

Conclusion

It is possible but very unlikely for an NBA team to come back from a 0-2 deficit in a playoff series. It is even harder when you are playing a team as good as the Spurs.

But if you were going to pick a team to do this wouldn’t it be a team like this Thunder team? A team on the rise who shows tons of potential but not all the time? A team with the best player in this series who is on the verge of “making the leap?”

There’s still hope.

The Los Angeles Lakers lead their first round series with the Denver Nuggets 3-2. They lost Game 5 at home with a chance to close out the series. Denver looked great in Game 5 playing their game and dictating the style of play to their liking.

Kobe scored 43 points in Game 5 including a stretch of three consecutive threes late in the fourth quarter. His symptoms today are vomiting and stomach pain.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum did not look their best in Game 5 and the Lakers will need less from Kobe and more from them to beat this Nuggets team.

If the Lakers win tonight then Game 1 of the second round will be on Saturday in Oklahoma City. All indications however are that the Nuggets should be favored to win tonight at home and force a Game 7 in Staples Center.

Or we could have the potential for Kobe trying to emulate Michael Jordan with a famous “flu game” of his own.

Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James thinks all NBA championships are equal. He’s wrong.

When LeBron heard someone mention a possible asterisk attached to this year’s NBA title winner here is what he told ESPN:

“I don’t think that’s right to say. I’m not going to get involved in it. Every team works hard no matter if it’s a lockout year or not. There’s not much of a difference between 82 games and 66 games.”

I’m not surprised he would feel this way. What’s he going to do? Agree that this year’s champion deserves an asterisk? Of course not, but it’s funny that this got a reaction out of him.

It’s clear that LeBron cares so much about what people think about him. It’s one of the things that make him so un-Jordan and un-Kobe. And ever since he joined the Miami Heat the hate he received from fans was surprising to him.

When the Heat made it to the NBA Finals last year and LeBron scored 8 points in Game 4, he put himself in a no-win situation. No matter what happened in the rest of that series LeBron was going to lose.

This is another thing he’s been dealing with this year. He can’t just win an NBA title. He has to win one and do it while being the unquestionable best player on the team, great in the clutch and not needing of Dwyane Wade’s assistance.

How fitting is it that now this season when the Heat have suddenly had the path to the NBA Finals cleared for them with the Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard injuries that people are already questioning the validity of this year’s champion?

I think it’s fair to do this. It is a lockout season which already makes this season different than almost any other. Injuries to stars like Rose and Howard are very good reasons for not crediting a champion as much as others. We’ve done it before to Hakeem Olajuwon when he won in ’94 and ’95 while Michael Jordan wasn’t around.

What’s LeBron and the Heat’s greatest obstacle now? The old knees of Boston and San Antonio? The Thunder who probably aren’t ready yet? This year simply doesn’t count as much …for them.

If it wasn’t LeBron and the Heat who were the title favorites at this point, would we already be talking about whether or not the champion this year deserves an asterisk?

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

If the Thunder win the title and let’s pray to the heavens they do, no one will mention this once.

It will all be about Kevin Durant and if he’s now the best player in the NBA. It’ll be how the Thunder accomplished this despite being so young and the Thunder formula and how they built their team from the NBA Draft – so anti-LeBron.

So that’s really the point. For us to give you credit for winning a title. You have to overcome something thus earning it more.

The Thunder would be overcoming a ton if they won this year. The Heat are simply expected to win and win not one, not two, not three …

“I don’t discredit the effort San Antonio had when they won it in ’99 after the lockout,” LeBron said. “We all know Gregg Popovich is an unbelievable coach and Tim Duncan is an unbelievable player. It shouldn’t matter. They won multiple (titles) after that so are we going to say that first one wasn’t good enough? I don’t think that’s true at all.”

LeBron’s right that now we don’t look back on that ’99 title and discredit San Antonio. But that’s because Duncan and Popovich won three more times. And that’s what LeBron’s going to have to do for us to fully recognize and appreciate this title if he wins.

But he told us he would and he better start now.

I love it. Another lose-lose situation for The King.

Durant averaged 28.03 points per game this season and becomes the youngest ever to win three scoring titles. Only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain won four-straight scoring titles. Jordan was 25 years old when he won his third scoring title. Durant is 23.

Bryant finishes the season playing eight less games than Durant and averaging 27.86 points per game. Bryant would have needed to score 38 points to pass Durant tonight.

Durant passed Bryant in points per game Sunday when the Thunder lost 114-106 in double overtime to the Lakers.

Durant extended his lead in the scoring race scoring 32 points in each of the Thunder’s last two games at home.

Durant scored less than 20 points only five times this season. He scored over 30 points 25 times, over 40 points four times and his season-high was 51 points.

Durant increased his scoring average this season to 28.0 from 27.7 last year. Two years ago Durant averaged his career-high of 30.1 points per game.

Durant was the most efficient in his career this season however shooting .496 percent from the field, .387 percent from three and he tied his career-high with a 26.2 PER.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Kobe Bryant has a chance to catch Kevin Durant for the scoring title when the Lakers play at Sacramento tonight.

Kobe is averaging 27.86 points per game in 58 games this season. Durant has now played all 66 games and has averaged 28.0303 points per game. If Kobe scores 38 tonight his scoring average will rise to 28.0339 giving him the edge over Durant.

Kobe has scored 38 or more points seven times this season.

If Durant hangs on to the lead he will become just the seventh player ever to win three-straight scoring titles.

Michael Jordan did this twice most recently from 1995-98. The others are Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Neil Johnston, Bob McAdoo and George Gervin.

It is amazing that Durant’s competition this season is the 33-year old Kobe. Even more amazingly, Kobe has won the scoring title just two times total in his career.

Durant has been the more impressive scorer than Kobe this season. Durant has played seven more games, shoots .496 percent from the floor compared to .430 for Kobe and averages 19.7 shots per game while Kobe is taking 23.0 per game.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder have the second-best record in the NBA this season at 39-12. They are the favorite to come out of the Western Conference and play in the NBA Finals. They are doing this despite their four best players being 23 or 22 years old.

The Thunder have been one of the more impressive teams to watch in the NBA this season. Every game they play in is filled with athletic highlights and incredible shot making. It is hard not to love this team and how they are put together.

But are the Thunder built for winning a title? Do the pieces really fit?

The criticism when it comes to the Thunder is usually directed at point guard Russell Westbrook and how he is not a point guard and how he shoots too much. I’ve made the argument that he is of course not a true point guard and is called on to do much more for the Thunder as a scorer as well, resulting in his high shot totals.

The real thing to note about the Thunder is how top heavy they are when it comes to usage rate. Usage percentage rates how much a player uses his team’s possessions counting field goal, free throw attempts and turnovers. This is a good way to help see how efficient a player really is.

I went back to 1980 and took a look at every team that won the title and what each of their player’s usage rates were in the playoffs for that championship run.

In the 1980’s, the teams that won were much more balanced and didn’t really on one star to carry much of the load. In 1985 the Lakers actually had five players with a usage rate of 20.0 or higher. Larry Bird had usage rates of 23.2, 25.9 and 23.3 in his championship years.

Things changed in the 1990’s and mainly because of Michael Jordan. Jordan has the highest usage rate of all-time in the NBA and his playoff usage rates were no exception. He recorded the highest playoff usage rate in 1993 at 38.0. During the Bulls’ title run from 1996-98, Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc averaged usage rates around 35-23-19, respectively.

When the Lakers started winning titles in the 2000’s, the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal duo became probably the best duo ever and their usage rates represented this for how close they were and how high too. Kobe averaged a 28.9 usage rate from 2000-02 and Shaq a 31.6. In 2001 they were the only teammates ever to both have usage rates above 30.0.

In fact, not that many players have usage rates over 30 on championship teams. Take a look at the players that did: Dirk, Kobe, Wade, Duncan, Shaq, Jordan, Olajuwon, Vinnie Johnson and Andrew Toney. So if you are going to shoot a lot, you better be one of the best players ever.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

This is where the Thunder come in. Westbrook and Durant both have usage rates over 30.0 this season. Westbrook has a higher usage rate than any point guard to ever start on a championship team. Not only that, but the trio of Durant-Westbrook-Harden’s combined usage rate this season is 85.2, higher than any other trio ever.

Last season in the playoffs when Westbrook received all of the heat for shooting too much, he had a usage rate of 34.4 while Durant was at only 29.0 and Harden 17.1. Again, not all of the blame should go to Westbrook here but that formula definitely isn’t going to work.

This regular season has Westbrook leading the Thunder at 32.7 with Durant at 31.0, Harden 21.5 and Serge Ibaka just 15.3.

I’ve said before that the sort of model the Thunder will need to follow to win a championship is that of the San Antonio Spurs’. They had a high-volume point guard in Tony Parker along with Manu Ginobili who is so similar to James Harden and Tim Duncan who had similar usage rates to Durant’s.

Parker had the highest usage rate ever by a point guard in 2007 at 29.2 when the Spurs won the title. Westbrook would probably need to get around that number for the Thunder to improve their title chances. If he does that it will mean more balance for the Thunder and probably a rise in production from Harden and Ibaka.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The more you look at this Thunder the more you think they probably are one year away still. For Westbrook to get his usage rate down, it’s really just going to take Harden upping his and he is only in his third season this year and if he continues improving next season, this may very well happen. We have already seen instances this season when Harden becomes the primary ball-handler even with Westbrook on the floor.

The other thing that will probably start to happen next year is a growing of Westbrook as a playmaker. His assists are way down this season and that may be because he has become such a dominant athlete and scorer this year. Next year he should learn to better balance that with playmaking helping get Ibaka better involved as well as more looks for Durant and Harden off his passes.

The one thing the Thunder have working for them in terms of winning this season is that their biggest competition in the Eastern Conference, Miami and Chicago, also have issues with their usage rates.

The Heat have a similar top heavy big three in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh who are combining for 87.3 usage rate, even higher than Oklahoma City’s big three. James and Wade are both over 30.0 which is something that only happened once in a playoff run with Kobe and Shaq. The highest usage rates for Jordan-Pippen was in 1993 when Jordan was 38.0 and Pippen 26.2.

An interesting thing happened for the Heat last year in the playoffs with James’ usage rate decreasing from his 2011 regular season mark of 31.5 to 26.9 with Wade’s remaining about the same over 30.0. This is the whole alpha dog issue with the Heat and what LeBron should do in the playoffs. You wouldn’t expect his usage to drop below 30 this postseason and really it should be higher than Wade’s. But we’ve never seen a team win a title with two perimeter players having such high usage rates.

As for the Chicago Bulls, it is no secret that they may rely too heavily on Derrick Rose to make every play on offense. Rose had a usage rate of 35.2 in the playoffs last season, higher than any other player and will likely have to carry a similar load this season, although Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer have improved some.

The toughest test for the Thunder may be the Spurs though. They haven’t shown any signs that they will be able to beat them in a playoff series and the Spurs added some pieces in Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw that will improve their team even more come playoff time. This may not be the year the Thunder win it all but that really isn’t the end of the world. Next year should be their prime time but they still may be able to steal a title this season.

The first one was a study done on rebounding. Using SportVu’s technology, Rajiv Maheswaran, Yu-Han Chang, Aaron Henehan and Samantha Danesis tracked locations of rebounds and looked for a relationship between rebound locations, shot locations and offensive rebound rate.

The data was not terribly surprising but very interesting. In basketball, there is a common thought that the longer the shot you take, the longer the rebound and thus the better chance for an offensive rebound in some cases.

According to the study, the highest chance for offensive rebounds occurs for shots taken very close to the basket within four feet. This makes sense with there being a lot of tip-ins near the rim.

The offensive rebound rate then started to decline by almost exactly one percent every foot you moved away from the basket that a shot was taken. It continued to do this all the way to the three-point line at around 20-feet. But after you got to 20-feet, the offensive rebound rate began to rise more and more the further you went out all the way to 26-feet by the same percentage of one percent per foot.

This isn’t surprising since a lot of deep threes will result in unpredictable and rare acting rebounds. The interesting part is that the value of taking deeper shots pertaining to offensive rebound rate mirrors the same value of taking three-point field goals in terms of effective field goal percentage.

We know that taking a long two-pointer is the worst shot in basketball because it is a low percentage look and only worth two points. It makes sense to then take a three-point shot only a few feet further instead because it’s worth 50 percent more. It also now seems to make sense because not only will the shot be worth three points instead of two but you also have a significant better chance of getting the offensive rebound on three-pointers compared to long two-pointers.

We’ve seen this strategy in place in the NBA most notably by the Orlando Magic. The Magic surround Dwight Howard with a bunch of three-point shooters. They shoot as many threes as any team in the league and when they don’t, they try and throw the ball into Howard for shots in the paint. On paper, this makes more sense than anything else in basketball.

Jim O'Connor-US Presswire

But it’s funny when we think that LeBron James is doing something smart but not taking any threes like he was doing at the beginning of the season. All he was doing was not shooting threes but leading the NBA in long two-point attempts, shooting around seven per game and making only 40 percent of them. If James shot 30 percent on three-pointers, that is a more efficient rate.

As far as I’m concerned, the greatest strength of James is his strength. He shows this off on fast breaks with his dunks but even more so with the ease with which he tosses up 30-foot shots. I have a feeling that if James completely stopped taking two-point jump shots and just backed up to the three-point line and totally focused on that, that he’d become even more efficient in a way.

It’s amazing that every team that was won titles in the last 20 years or so has had one of their best players being someone that takes a lot of bad shots. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki are the best examples of this. A championship team needs someone that can basically post-up from 17 feet and make a few dribbles and throw up a fadeaway. But this kind of makes no sense.

I am guilty of this too when I ranked the best players in the NBA at the start of the season by player-types I valued this type of player over anyone else in terms of being needed to win championships. I called for James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant to not shoot threes anymore and instead start posting up from 15-feet in and take worse shots.

If you really think about it there is one team out there that one championships playing a more efficient style of offense than the teams with Jordan and Bryant: the San Antonio Spurs.

Jim O'Connor-US Presswire

The Spurs surrounded Tim Duncan (the best post player in the league at the time of his titles) with a great penetrating point guard in Tony Parker, good defenders and three-point shooters and then the epitome of efficiency Manu Ginobili.

I think Ginobili is really the key here. He is a player that can make threes at a 40 percent rate and can drive to the basket at will in an unorthodox way getting to the line and finishing as well. The numbers say a player like this is the perfect player to have.

James Harden is the next player like this. He comes from the Ginobili-mold and is blossoming into a star this year. A time will come in the playoffs this year when the Thunder need to call on Harden to step up and take over and they will need him to do it with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook standing around the three-point line spotting up.

Will the Thunder be able to make this decision when they need to? Can head coach Scott Brooks look Durant and Westbrook in the eye and tell them to give the ball to Harden and get out of the way?