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NBA 2019/20: Return of the Big 3?

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    #26
    I think KD's number should hang in Oracle for as long as it stands . . .

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      #27
      Am I alone in finding retiring numbers a bit odd? At least in the volume that it seems to happen in the US? What about the continuity of a new face wear a shirt that has history behind it? Also, what happens when teams start runnig out of double digit numbers?

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        #28
        Europeans generally find it odd, we don't, having grown up with it (and with the concept of "squad numbers" in general).

        The Yankees have retired the most (21) and are now out of single digits and the Montreal Canadiens have retired 15 different numbers, but neither is closer to running out of options. The fact that numbers in the 70-99 range have become trendy in recent years helps.

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          #29
          Originally posted by jason voorhees View Post
          I mean, I found it quite touching. Look at how many numbers the Celtics retired. Winning 2 titles for a place probably should get your number retired. It also may be a bat-signaled dog-whistle to any other high-profile free agents that may be looking for a legacy.

          Can't remember tag teams ever switching members, like the Rock and Roll Express teaming up with the Midnight Express or Demolition teaming up with the Road Warriors...so credit the NBA with a mind-blowing tag team switch of Irving-LeBreezy to Irving-KD.

          I just hope Durant heals enough so he can commit Arson on Thine Rucker again.
          I was hoping that was the same night that Michael Beasley mushed a guy yelling at him, but that was a game at Dyckman, not at Rucker.

          That was a wild summer as well. I remember every morning there'd be a new post with a video of highlights of NBA guys playing in NYC parks or Drew League games.

          On retired numbers, I don't really think there are many teams who do it excessively, so there's not much chance of a team running out of a number. The Celtics have 22 retired numbers, the most of any NBA team (some of those are a bit questionable...Cedric Maxwell)? But even the Lakers have only 11 retired numbers (for 10 players...).
          Last edited by Incandenza; 02-07-2019, 13:23.

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            #30
            The Knicks only dream of being as competently run as the Giants were in the 40s and 50s. Imagine the Knicks hiring Brad Stevens or Steve Kerr the day after they’re let go by their respective employers.

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              #31
              Feel for Toronto, wish he could have stayed, but that title had so much gravitas and memorable magic that it probably doesn't matter.

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                #32
                I seriously doubt that any Raptors fan would choose to negate the trade if they could.

                Flags Fly Forever

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                  #33
                  Yup, agree with all that.

                  And I guess the Clippers can take the week of the draft off for the next four years.

                  I don't think that it will happen, but a Clippers - Nets Finals would Drive the narrative boys wild.

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                    #34
                    The Lakers could have brought Jerry West back. He's said he wanted to work for them again. But not, not a decision they wanted to make. Fuck them.

                    What's really crazy is that Kawhi's decision seems to have been made way before the start of free agency, he was just trying to get the second max player to join him. According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, he was recruiting Durant at first. Then he went to Paul George, then it was the Clippers and OKC working out the deal while everyone thought that Kawhi was still making up his mind. Much respect to the Clippers front office for not being a leakfest like the Lakers' is.

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                      #35
                      It’s dumb to have two teams in the same building, but this obviously lights a fire under the Lakers to get their act together lest they risk becoming the second most popular team in their market. It would take a generation, but it could happen.

                      This is why another NHL team in Southern Ontario would actually be good for Leafs fans. (Same with the Habs and a possible Nordiques 2.0) Not so much for the Leafs as a for-profit business, of course.

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                        #36
                        Originally posted by Cesar Rodriguez
                        And in the end Kawhi engineered the move that he is reputed to have wanted all along, back to LA, to the Clippers. With Paul George in tow.

                        Love how this club was counted out after CP3 left but they have remained playoff-competitive and a destination for free agents.
                        It's Microsoft money behind that club, isn't it?

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                          #37
                          Yes.

                          Steve Ballmer, Gates' former number two, paid around USD 2 billion for the club a few years ago.

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                            #38
                            Originally posted by Cesar Rodriguez

                            I'm sure the Lakers will continue to remain the most popular team in LA for the foreseeable future but I'm not sure team popularity is really high on the priority list of modern day NBA stars when it comes to choosing where to play.
                            Kawhi may not get the same reception, but Paul George will be booed when showed on the Jumbotron at Dodger Stadium just as bad as Chris Paul was.

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                              #39
                              Popularity matters somewhat. The whole reason they want to be in LA is to take advantage of the off-the-court commercial and social opportunities. In Cleveland or Milwaukee, being an NBA player makes you the most famous and beloved person almost everywhere you go. But in LA, there’s a pecking order of celebrities and the Clippers have not, historically, been close to the top of that heap. So they’ll have to win over fans and the media to make the most out of their time there.

                              I think I read that Ballmer is trying to build a new arena. Not sure where, though.

                              I’d think they should change their name too, but it doesn’t look like they want to do that.

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                                #40
                                Yeah, I looked it up. Inglewood, which is near the new NFL stadium, I think. Not sure how far away from the Staples Center (is it called that still?) that is.

                                There was talk about an arena in Anaheim for the Kings, but that didn’t happen. Not sure if that’s still an option.

                                Or maybe he really just wants to just move them to Seattle.

                                http://www.nba.com/article/2019/02/2...g-stadium-push

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                                  #41
                                  Heh, you may need to specify which Kings in LA. The Sacramento Kings were all set to move to the Arrowhead Pond or whatever the hockey arena in Anaheim is called, but Sactown, probably realizing they'd never get a team again unless they were completely ripped off for the privilege* and with an ex-NBA All Star for a mayor, decided to throw them a shitload of money to stay. Which they did eventually: the Maloofs were widely believed to be broke after the Palms casino went belly up and basically shopped the team to anybody who would relocate them, but Sac kept showing that there were Californian investors who wanted to keep the team in Sac so David Stern kept putting the kibosh on a sale/move.

                                  * honestly, this is probably the most justifiable reason to use public money on a stadium. If you're a small market team - big markets have way more leverage - take the bad deal now and keep the team instead of watching them go on a point of principle, which will last as long as you remain ignorant of the votes to be had from the Sports Fan Bloc (or until you lose the election to someone who isn't ignorant of that constituency).Sac paid $223 million for a new arena with the Kings picking up the rest to a total of $550 million. To have any chance of landing a relocated team, they'd have probably had to pay for the entire arena. DC had to to get baseball back. It's the Quebec theory: building a new arena for the Nordiques in the mid-90s and bridging the stadium funding gap for the Expos would have cost far less than what the province kicked out just for a new hockey arena in Quebec City that still has no Nordiques.

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                                    #42
                                    Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                    Yeah, I looked it up. Inglewood, which is near the new NFL stadium, I think. Not sure how far away from the Staples Center (is it called that still?) that is.
                                    About 15 miles away from each other. The potential Clippers arena in Inglewood was challenged by the owners of the Forum because that is now exclusively a concert arena and they say that a new NBA arena would take away revenue from them if they hold concerts there. Not sure what the status of any of that is.

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                                      #43
                                      I do wonder whether we will start to see more younger fans support individuals rather than clubs, much in the way that "CR7" and Mendes have created a legion ready to change allegiances overnight.

                                      Both the dramatic rise in "player power" and the ubiquity of access to "content" from the entire league certainly make the ground for that kind of thing much more fertile than it was when I was growing up.

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                                        #44
                                        You are obviously unfamiliar with the LeBron fans that instantly became Laker fans last summer. It's true you don't see it with other players to that extent, but it does happen.

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                                          #45
                                          They are why I said "more"

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                                            #46
                                            I already thought it was a thing - my nephew got a Durant OKC jersey when he was 14 when everything else he owned was Indiana Pacers related (and still is).

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                                              #47
                                              It's kind of weird/interesting that it's now Big 2 instead Big 3, and will essentially be NBA Jam come to life.

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                                                #48
                                                Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                                I do wonder whether we will start to see more younger fans support individuals rather than clubs, much in the way that "CR7" and Mendes have created a legion ready to change allegiances overnight.

                                                Both the dramatic rise in "player power" and the ubiquity of access to "content" from the entire league certainly make the ground for that kind of thing much more fertile than it was when I was growing up.
                                                This film is about that, sort of. It’s more about how the players could just create their own “content.” I don’t care about basketball much and still really liked it.

                                                https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8128188/

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                                                  #49
                                                  Originally posted by jason voorhees View Post
                                                  It's kind of weird/interesting that it's now Big 2 instead Big 3, and will essentially be NBA Jam come to life.
                                                  Westbrook is interested in going to Miami, who is working on pulling off a trade with OKC to pair him with Jimmy Butler.

                                                  Can you imagine the two of them in the Miami Vice jerseys? GOOD HEAVENS

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                                                    #50
                                                    That's, that's the Costacos Brothers' music, bro!

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