NBA All Star Duds
Jim and I were talking the other day about certain all-stars and how their teams were going to fair this season and I felt that there were way too many prognosticators who were prognosticating like they were playing 2K with injuries turned off. Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter how good a player is if they are sitting out due to injury. Let’s have a look at some examples.
Ben Simmons. Number 1 on making my argument. How many times did we hear last season how good the 76ers/Nets were going to be once Simmons was back on the floor. Well he never got back on the floor and until he proves otherwise, it’s ridiculous to discuss how good the Nets will be with him when we have no idea whether he’ll ever actually suit up for them and if he does, how many games he might play before being re-mentally injured. And I do not say that to mock people suffering from real mental illness but rather because Ben Simmons is the one mocking those people and he should be ashamed. The only mental illness he has is a severe case of egomania. At this point, Simmons shouldn’t be a part of any discussion regarding the Nets. In fact, if you’re reading a list of the best point guards in the NBA and Ben Simmons is anywhere on that list, immediately disregard it; whoever wrote it doesn’t understand sports.
Kyrie Irving. Sorry Steve Nash but you have at least 2 if not 3 of the biggest head cases in the NBA. Kyrie is right up there with Simmons in terms of an inability to discuss his team’s potential success with him on the team. Out of 237 possible games he could have played with the Nets, Irving has only shown up for 103. He has only played in 13 playoff games for the Nets and averaged a pedestrian 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists as per stats muse. Will he play this year? If so, how many games? Maybe he’s talented and maybe he’s not. Until we get a really good run of playoff games, how will we know? Kyrie fancies himself as an entertainer. If that’s true, then so are the refs, the owners, the league, the journalists and even the fans. After all, it would be very entertaining without the fans. Like the old expression, if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Could you imagine a basketball movie without basketball fans? I’m so sorry to break it to you Kyrie, but you’re not special – even if your momma told you you were.
Anthony Davis. He’s played 76 out of the last 164 games and no playoff games. How can you seriously consider him as an integral part of the Lakers team? So much salary tied up in so few games. But BronBron got him a ring during the ‘bubble’ year so why does he care? When I think of the Lakers prospects for the 22-23 season, I can’t help thinking that one or the other are going to get injured and when that happens, too much pressure will fall on the other and the house of cards will collapse. I’m sorry Jeanie. You’re a wonderful person but loyalty to people in basketball who have zero loyalty to you is a recipe for disaster.
LeBron James. Again, sorry Jeanie. He’s only loyal to the money and he’s going to demand you pay him whether he plays or not. That extension is exactly what a wonderful person would do so I’m not surprised, but I do believe there is a 100% chance it’s going to bite back and steal any legitimate chance the Lakers have. It’s sort of a ‘The Kings New Clothes’, thing where having 2 bonafides like LeBron and Davis on paper make you a contender, but in reality, their age and injury history tell the true story. With LeBron and Davis, the Lakers are pretenders.
Tomorrow: Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal, John Wall, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Zion Williamson, Markelle Fultz, Kristaps Prozingis,