NBA Free Agent Gibberish

Some of the speculation will intensify and some of it will start to resolve on Thursday. Here are my guesses as to how it will play out.

Staying Put

First off, there are a few guys that I feel will not be going anywhere.

Dwyane Wade: Miami
Dirk Nowitzki: Dallas
Paul Pierce: Boston

Leaving

Now the players that will changing their jerseys.

Lebron James and Chris Bosh: Chicago
I really feel like Bosh is going to be playing with Lebron and I'm pretty sure Lebron is going to Chicago. It was his favorite team growing up and he idolizes Jordan. In addition, he would play with Noah, Rose, and possibly Bosh. Is he really going to pick Mo Williams and no coach over that? First the Blackhawks, now this? My soul is rotting.

Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer: New York
The Knicks have a great arena and city, but really do not offer a lot basketball wise. I see them overpaying these 2 second tier free agents once they lose the Lebron Sweepstakes.

Amar'e Stoudemire: Miami
They will need to land another key free agent in order to keep Wade happy. They've got the cap space to pay Stoudamire the max, which he is not worth by the way! Amar'e is also from Florida.

Ray Allen: Oklahoma City
A young team looking to land a veteran shooter. It just makes sense because I think he'll have to accept less money to stay in Boston.

Shaquille O'Neal: Dallas
Dallas will not land a big free agent other than Dirk and Mark Cuban loves spending money on former stars past their prime. Another possibility could be Boston. Shaq would not seem as old there.

David Lee: New Jersey
New Jersey will probably not land any of the top free agents, so they will have more money to spend on Lee than other teams.

Greatest Laker Ever?!?!

Now that the Lakers are the 2010 NBA Champions, there is a lot of talk about Kobe Bryant possibly being the greatest Laker of all time. Since everyone seems to have an opinion on this, I thought I would weigh in with mine. I had initial gut reactions and then decided to look at some statistics. There are 6 players that I think can be thrown into this argument: Kobe, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Shaquille O'Neal. When I am looking at "Greatest Laker of All Time" I am only looking at what players accomplished during their tenures as Lakers, not their entire careers. That is the reason Wilt Chamberlain is not being considered.

Here are the stats, courtesy of http://www.basketball-reference.com/ (and my math skills when it comes to Shaq and Kareem):

	Games	Pts	Asts	Rbs	Titles	Finals MVP	NBA MVP
Bryant	1021	25,790	4,766	5,410	5	2	1
Johnson	906	17,707	10,141	6,559	5	3	3
Abdul-Jabbar	1,093	24,176	3,652	10,279	5	1	3
Baylor	846	23,149	3,650	11,463	0	0	0
West	932	25,192	6,238	5,366	1	1	0
O'Neal	463	13,895	1,593	6,090	3	3	1

HTML Tables

After soaking all of that in, here is how I am ranking those 6 players when it comes to "Greatest All Time Laker":


6. Elgin Baylor

His stats are amazing! He scored 2,641 less points than Kobe, but he also played 175 fewer games. What makes his scoring numbers even greater is the fact that there was NO 3 POINT LINE when Elgin was playing! He also had 1,184 more rebounds than Kareem in 247 less games! He would be higher on the list, but he never won a championship.

5. Shaquille O'Neal
Shaq only played 463 games for the Lakers, which is less than anyone on this list. During that time he won 3 championships, all of which he was Finals MVP. Throw in an NBA MVP and he is in the top 5.

4. Jerry West

West has probably had the most impact on the organization when you consider his playing career and post playing career. West was extremely versatile. He won a Finals MVP in a series in which his team lost! Kobe has passed him in points by 598, but West played in 89 less games than Kobe. West made it to the Finals 9 times out of the 13 seasons he played. However, he only won 1 title.

3. Kobe Bryant

What can you say? He surpassed Jerry West in scoring this year, has 5 titles, 2 Finals MVPs, and 1 NBA MVP. The scariest fact of all is that he still has playing years ahead of him. The only way he moves up the list is if he continues to adapt his game to make the players around him better.

2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

His points are in the ballpark of Kobe and Jerry West. His assists are high for a big man. His rebounds are well above everyone on the list except for Elgin Baylor. Kareem won 5 titles, 1 Finals MVP, and 3 NBA MVPS. The thing that is most amazing to me is that these are just his Lakers stats! His tenure with the Lakers did not even start until he was 28! He had 6 seasons before that with the Bucks. During that time his stats were arguably even better! He won 1 title and 3 NBA MVPs while he was a Buck!

1.Magic Johnson

Magic only played 906 games. He is arguably the most versatile player in NBA history, even playing center his rookie year when Kareem was injured. He also is 2nd all time in triple doubles. Johnson won 5 titles, 3 Finals MVPs, and 3 NBA MVPs. Magic's stats are competitive with anyone on the list, but what separated him from the others was his ability to make everyone on his team a better player. Look at the 1990-1991 Lakers roster and see if it looks like a team that should have been in the NBA Finals.

A Final Look Back at My NBA Playoff Predictions

These are the predictions I made before each series started, not before the entire playoffs started.

Round 1

Cavs-Bulls: Cavs in 5
Actual: Cavs in 5

Bobcats-Magic: Magic in 6
Actual: Magic in 4

Bucks-Hawks: Hawks in 5
Actual: Hawks in 7

Heat-Celtics: Celtics in 6
Actual: Celtics in 5

Thunder-Lakers: Lakers in 6
Actual: Lakers in 6

Spurs-Mavs: Spurs in 6
Actual: Spurs in 6

Blazers-Suns: Suns in 5
Actual: Suns in 6

Jazz-Nuggets: Nuggets in 5
Actual: Jazz in 6

Conference Semifinals

Cavs-Celtics: Cavs in 7
Actual: Celtics in 6

Hawks-Magic: Magic in 5
Actual: Magic in 4

Jazz-Lakers: Lakers in 5
Actual: Lakers in 4

Spurs-Suns: Suns in 7
Actual: Suns in 4

Conference Finals

Celtics-Magic: Celtics in 6
Actual: Celtics in 6

Lakers-Suns: Suns in 6
Actual: Lakers in 6

Finals

Celtics-Lakers: Celtics in 7
Actual: Lakers in 7... GRRRRRR... first the Blackhawks, now this!

Ranking the 2010 World Cup Team Nicknames

32. Switzerland: Swiss National Team
-The bar is very low to improve this one. “The Army” would have been a ridiculous name, but still an improvement.

31. New Zealand: All Whites
-A majority of 31-20 suffers from unimaginative color names.

30. France: The Blues

29. Italy: The Blues
- Italy gets the tiebreaker over France because of their food.

28. Paraguay: The White and Red

27. Argentina: White and Sky Blue

26. Germany: National Team
-Low on the list because it is not creative. However it suits Germany’s team well because they are all business!

25. Uruguay: The Sky Blue

24. Mexico: The Three Colored

23. South Africa: The Boys

22. Serbia: White Eagles

21. Ghana: The Black Stars

20. Chile: The Red One
-Simplistic, but sounds like it could be a Jet Li movie.

19. England: The Three Lions
-Not crazy about it, but don’t hate it.

18. United States: The Yanks
-Maybe it’s just my personal connotation of this being negative coming from southerners and people outside of the US. I’m also not a NY Yankees fan. Thought about Patriots, but then New York would feel the same way Boston does now. How about “Liberty?” We can all get behind it and New York would still get a nod.

17. Ivory Coast: The Elephants
-Ivory and Elephants, it works.

16. Nigeria: Super Eagles
-Way to one up Philly!

15. Brazil: Little Canary
-I like the irony of the most storied World Cup country having the adjective “Little” in their name.

14. Algeria: The Desert Foxes
-How is this not the name of the Phoenix WNBA team?

13. Cameroon: The Indomitable Lions
-Definitely not from Detroit!

12. Slovakia: The Fighting Jondas
-They added “Fighting” to one of the most common
names in Slovakia. Thumbs up!

11. Honduras: Los Catrachos
-This name is cool because there is no way to truly translate it.

10. Japan: Blue Samurai
-When you put “Samurai” in your name, you secure a spot in the top ten!

9. Netherlands: The Flying Dutchmen
-I wonder how many young fans think this is a
Spongebob reference.

8. South Korea: Treguk Warriors
-Cultural and tough.

7. North Korea: The Winged Horses
-Again, add “Winged” and you get the mythology trump card.

6. Australia: Socceroos
-Shows a great sense of humor by the Australians. How is this not a Disney movie?

5. Portugal: Team of the Shields
- Just strikes me as the title of the sports novel Tolkien never wrote.

4. Spain: Red Fury
-An elite team with a truly exciting, intimidating name.

3. Greece: The Pirate Ship
- Just an awesome name. If it were the Pirates, it would have ranked in the low teens. I’m crazy.

2. Slovenia: Dragons
-When you think of a worldwide event with a rich history, for some reason mythology just fits.

1. Denmark: Olsen’s Eleven
-Pop culture reference that fits the number of players on the field and gives tribute to their legendary coach.