
With the sheer awesomeness that comes in an NBA Season, there is also the yearly dose of negatives, some more glaringly obvious than others. So here we go with the five worst, most embarrassing or just
plain awkward events of the 2008-2009 season.
C - The general increase in what I like to call "
douchebaggery".
Ok, I could be totally bias here and just rag on Kevin
Garnett and his numerous occurrences of being an All-Star
douchebag this season. So I will. Taunting Jose Calderon as he was bringing the ball up court (and subsequently receiving a metaphorical bitch slap when Jose made a nice play), crawling as
Jerryd Bayless brought the ball up court, taunting and trash talking the Bulls in the playoffs
from the bench in a suit and most recently, guaranteeing Championship wins in the following two seasons.
Ok, I will be fair. Some other pretty
douchey acts this season include;
- The Denver Nuggets during the playoffs, but specifically the Western Conference Finals. Dahntay Jones pushing and tripping Kobe Bryant, JR Smith throwing up gang signs and Kenyon Martin's whole online war with Mark Cuban.
- Josh Smith attempting a between the legs dunk against the Heat in the playoffs. Not bad enough? He missed it. Still not bad enough? He said if he was presented with the same situation, that he would attempt the same dunk again. FML.
- Mo Williams guaranteeing that the Cavaliers would defeat Orlando despite trailing 2-1. We all know how that ended up don't we Mo?
- Minor mentions to Rafer Alston bitch slapping Eddie House and Derek Fisher body checking Luis Scola
PF - The Allen
Iverson trade. Yeah, I might be exaggerating slightly in ranking this as the second worst event of the entire season, however I guess I have a different perspective to many others. There is nothing wrong with making deals to establish financial prosperity for a future free agent period, however making a deal, as still somewhat of a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference, involving the face of the franchise, involving the player that holds the team together, just screams stupid to me. Especially when you compare
Iverson with
Billups, a shoot first compared to pass first point guard, the trade, in retrospect for the Pistons, was the cause for their fall to the eighth seed this season. Yeah that have an expiring contract this summer from
Iverson, and can probably sign Ben Gordon or
Hedo Turkoglu with it, but I just feel like they threw away the 08-09 season with this trade. At least
Rip Hamilton will be glad he is the number one option again.
SF - The Shot. One second. One Man. One Shot. A great play by a great player in the form of MVP
LeBron James, that kept the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference series for the time being. I don't have an issue with the play itself, that would be blasphemous. What really got under my skin was the self righteous, never ending orgasm that ESPN had over the play, and the ensuing coverage and pandering to
LeBron James' godliness. Umpteen replays from every single angle, expert analysis of the inbound and catch-and-shoot, and the likes of Magic Johnson and Mike
Wilbon predicting that the Cavaliers would win the series based off of this play alone. Of course the fact it was
Lebron making the shot and not a
Delonte West or Daniel Gibson led to the increased exposure, but everyone needs to stop riding
Lebron like he has got a twelve
incher. Yes, hyping up the play is needed, but the degree to which it was over-exposed reached a level of unprofessional ism.
SG - The Missing Links. Perennial bench riders such as Tracy
McGrady and Elton Brand once again raise the issue about how much NBA players, and professional athletes in general get paid. Tracy
McGrady once again missed out on the second round due to yet another physical breakdown. There were stages during the season where it appeared as though he
lost interest. We all know what
McGrady can achieve when his body allows him to play, but the Rockets have to ask themselves if he is worth a roster spot and millions of dollars anymore. Similarly, Elton Brand was a shock signing for the 76
ers this off-season. However, shockingly it appeared as though that the 76
ers performed far better when he was injured. Early season results with Brand in the lineup were mixed, and once he went down with his season-ending injury, Philadelphia appeared to go on a sustained run towards the playoffs, even challenging eventual Conference champions Orlando in the First Round.
PG - The
Stephon Marbuy saga. This was pure off court drama. Starting off with a clash of personalities between
Marbury and new
Knicks coach Mike
D'Antoni, the saga was never going to end well. Everything that followed just kept on making it worse. With neither party satisfied with a buy-out agreement, it reached a point where
Marbury was dressed to play, asked by
D'Antoni to play, but with
Marbury refusing (this is the series of events that I decide to believe). Eventually when an agreement was made, the
Marbury sweepstakes began. Many were asking where he was going to end up, while many many more were left asking, who really cares? Wait...the
Marbury sweepstakes? This guy played 24 games in 07-08, had been on the rapid decline and clearly has personality issues. It was as if Jesus had risen again and wanted to play for what ended up being the Celtics. And of course his impact to the Celtics championship run was non existent. Leave for Europe or something please.
TSM