We Will Be Witnesses

December 2nd, 2010. The goods and evils of free agency and anti-trust will come together for one event in Cleveland, Ohio: Lebron James' return to the basketball court he called home for seven seasons for the first time since his scripted, less than noble live announcement on ESPN he would play for a team other than the Cavaliers.

If you are a regular reader of CB4, then you know I wrote about Lebron and The Cavaliers before. Feel free to check out my earlier posts for some background...

If there is laughter in Toronto about Miami's newest bench warmer, then there will be unrestrained furor in Cleveland for Miami's newest star player. Even with Bosh and Lebron respectively, the Heat are anything but on fire, and the fact Miami is less than stellar adds to the palpable fear and spectacle surrounding this game. Nevertheless, it begs the question of how long is too long to hold a grudge?

The boos Browns fans give the Baltimore Ravens are just as loud for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and any other NFL team that comes to town. When asked on a local telecast about where Lebron's exit ranks in Cleveland sports history, a fan paused and answered "right up there" with the departure of the old Browns franchise to Baltimore. As time passed, fans linked the new Browns with the old Browns in the name and the colours. Players are unknown until they show talent, and then they are no longer trusted (ie. Lebron James, Braylon Edwards, Josh Cribbs (?)). Should we assume that fans trust the franchise more than the players who play on the team? I hope not (ie. Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis, Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix, Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis).

I suppose there is a balance between favouring player and team, in particular in the current information age of WikiLeaks and thousands of blogs and credible "sources". Amidst all the fear and trembling, I would hope someone in Cleveland on Thursday, December 2nd, will find "decorum" or use discretion that night.

What Should I Do?

What should I do? The NBA season is already underway, but that is nothing compared to an eventful offseason involving Lebron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his new employers the Miami Heat. There was significant backlash in the wake of Lebron's televised announcement, after months of denial and assurances Cleveland was his team.

You don't need links to find news media on the Cleveland backlash towards Lebron; they are all over websites like Google, YouTube, and Facebook, and on various blogs all over the world. Instead I posted a couple of videos: One by Lebron James in the wake of the departure, and the response (I found both on Youtube).

Now, what should I do? This is an open question to you, my readers. Everyone says I should be angry, indifferent, or happy, but what should I do? Write off the sport? Write off Lebron? Write off Cleveland?!

I know what it is like, Cleveland (See "I Miss Him. Every Game."). I know how you feel, but what should I do way out here in Toronto? Chris Bosh went to Miami, too, but I don't care enough to be as upset because he wasn't Lebron, and he wasn't Vince Carter. So, what should I do? Should I boo? Should I give a standing ovation? Should I go back to playing NHL 11?

Tell me; I want to know. What should I do?

THE TRADE THAT CHANGED BASKETBALL FOREVER!

I remember when the Hornets played for the city of Charlotte: Shooting guard Kendall Gill would shoot out the lights, power forward Larry Johnson (a.k.a. Grandmama) would put on a show, center Alonzo Mourning would pound the glass and dunk the ball, and the NBA's shortest ever point guard Muggsy Bogues would captain the offence and shutdown opponents on defence, and in response Charlotte would pack its Coliseum to watch their Hornets play.

Of course, this way of playing basketball was not brand new. The Lakers and Celtics of the 1980's transitioned out of the old center focus game of the "two-point" era popularized by Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell (Before 1979, all NBA baskets were worth two points anywhere on the court. Teams needed centers with strength and willpower to score and/or play defense). Fellow Eastern Conference championship contenders, Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls introduced a game of driving play and clutch perimeter shooting. The Charlotte Hornets were playoff contenders, but not championship caliber material: After their first 50-win season in 1994-95, the Hornets lost to the Bulls in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

A lost season followed, which began in the offseason with the Hornets trading away Alonzo Mourning to the Miami Heat for shooting star Glen Rice, a draft pick and two other players, and the Hornets failed to qualify for the playoffs. As the 1996 Draft approached, the Charlotte Hornets believed they were missing something: A person that could take over the game.

The day was July 1, 1996. The 1996 Draft was almost a week before with the Charlotte Hornets selecting two shooting guards in the first round. Their second pick (#16) was senior Tony Delk from Kentucky; the pick came to the Hornets in the Mourning trade. He led the Wildcats to another NCAA Championship in March of that year, so the Hornets felt they lucked out. Their first pick (#13) was a gamble out of Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, but Charlotte needed a strong inside presence to replace Alonzo Mourning. Thankfully, the struggling Los Angeles Lakers had something to offer.

The "Showtime era" of the 1980's was a distant memory for Lakers fans. The days of star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and star players Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Michael Cooper were gone; for the first time in team history, the center-driven game the Lakers popularized for the NBA's first fifty years of existence lost step with the rest of the league. The Lakers had Vlade Divac, their #1 pick from the 1989 Draft meant to replace the great Abdul-Jabbar yet the results were not there (For an in-depth synopsis of Lakers history, visit their website!)

Vlade Divac was an established NBA talent that could put the Charlotte Hornets over the top; all the Lakers wanted was their thirteenth pick from the '96 Draft: The unproven shooting guard out of high school.

July 1, 1996

To Charlotte Hornets: Vlade Divac, Center
To Los Angeles Lakers: #13 Pick from the 1996 NBA Draft (Kobe Bryant, Shooting Guard, Lower Merion HS, PA)

The focus on the Center position in basketball is not what it once was. In this one player transaction, the age of defense beginning and ending with the center, from the days of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, transitioned to the offense-oriented, perimeter focus of today. Charlotte never reached the NBA Finals, only reaching the conference finals once before moving to New Orleans after the 2002 season. During that time period, Kobe Bryant and then free agent acquisition Shaquille O'Neal racked up three consecutive NBA titles between 2000-02. However, the future of the game focused around players like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Garnett. They are not giants, but none can understate their offensive and defensive presence on the perimeter as well as in close. Keep in mind there are great centers in the game today, such as Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers. Nevertheless, the focus of today's game is on guards and then forwards (see 2009 NBA Draft).

By the way, who did the Los Angeles Lakers select as their 24th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft? Derek Fisher, as in "0.4 shot" Derek Fisher :D

Greatest Basketball Commercial Ever.

You see it in the title. No basketball-only blog would be complete without a link to the greatest basketball commercial in the history of television. Enjoy!

I Miss Him. Every Game.

I never expected to lose with him on the court. In any game and in every game; I expected victory and nothing less. This was a virgin feeling I had about one player in a team game. Of course, baseball would the exception to the rule. In 1992 and 1993, if we were leading late in the game, then defeat was close to impossible because or relief pitching was so dominant. However, if we trailed in the last few innings, one of our players would get that clutch hit. After all, the memory which supersedes all others was "The Clutch Hit" for everyone who witnessed it.

However, this was different; this was basketball. Never did we have a superstar to take over games, and we never thought of missing the playoffs with such a superstar. What did we call this feeling; Confidence, arrogance, pride? No, we called it Vinsanity.

I miss feeling that way. I miss having legitimate reasons to watch ESPN Classic to relive those great moments when he would make that game-winning shot. I miss having confidence in my basketball team. I miss having a reason to watch the game. I miss having no worries about the opponent my team would play against (unless it was Jordan's Bulls)...no, wait, that's not it at all. There is one thing I miss more than all of those put together:

I miss Vince Carter.