Fandom Free Agency - #23 Charlotte Bobcats

First off, let me say this decision was reached on two nights ago. So please don't read anything into Charlotte's home loss tonight to the New Jersey Nets as a reason for their elimination. New Jersey's 2nd road win of the season is an embarrassing loss for the Bobcats, but it is not the reason for the elimination.

As you may or may not have noticed two nights ago was the NBA All-Star Game, or as Kobe Bryant rightly coined it, "The World's Greatest Pickup Game." The All-Star Game in my mind accomplishes two good things for the NBA: 1) It gives a great spotlight for the games greatest players, 2) It proves that the NBA is actually capable of playing defense.

Stick with me here, I'm not saying the NBA All-Star Game is a great spokesperson for NBA defense. In fact there is little to no defense played at all. But what it does prove is that on any given night a team filled with NBA players can go out and score 150 points if they're faced with the All-Star Game type defense. In reality NBA teams average a little under 100 points a night and this is a testament to the type of D the NBA has. To keep these supremely talented players under 100 in 48 minutes is actually quite a defensive accomplishment and shows just how hard these teams do play.

Which brings me to the Bobcats... Charlotte was represented this All-Star weekend by one man, Gerald Wallace. Wallace was scheduled to compete in both the All-Star game and the dunk contest, and although I watched most of both events, I'm still not sure whether Wallace made it through the snow in Dallas in time for those events.

Wallace was a no-show during the dunk contest. Putting up uninspired dunk attempts and eventually getting eliminated in the first round. Say what you will about the dunk contest (and it was terrible) but at least the young kids they have in it appear to care. DeMar DeRozan had the best creativity of any dunker this year and even a young Gerald Wallace came up with great dunks when he was in it 8 years ago.

LeBron, Kobe and D Howard would be great in the dunk contest. I would watch and they'd get great ratings but really the young kids are they ones who will come up with the more creative dunks. Give me the players who have something to prove when they get to the dunk contest and if you need an example just look at the difference between 2002 Gerald Wallace and 2010 Gerald Wallace.

Now on to the actual All-Star Game. I made the decree on Sunday night that the player with the worst All-Star Game performance would have his team eliminated. Gerald Wallace was again scheduled to appear but showed up with only 2 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes. He was also a depressing -12 on +/- for the game but I'm not going to use All-Star +/- as a statistic to judge someone. It probably just means that Wallace didn't get to play with LeBron on the court at the same time. Heck Dwayne Wade won the MVP but finished with a -2.

The point is, I'm eliminating the Bobcats because Gerald Wallace is the first All-Star they've ever had and he showed up like he didn't understand why he was in Dallas. Bill Simmons made the joke earlier today that Wallace should claim he got roofie'd on Friday night after his All-Star performace. I'd have to agree with him.

If I'm going to follow a team it's because there star player shows up on the biggest stage. I want a player who shines the lights are bright and doesn't act like he's there just to enjoy the after parties.

I don't dislike the Bobcats. I sang the praises of Captain Jack in a previous post. Raymond Felton is solid contributor on my fantasy team. D.J. Augustin while at Texas was kind enough to treat me to two of my favorite games as a KU fan.

Lots of potential for the Bobcats, and I think they're a big time bandwagon team when this year's playoffs come. But Gerald Wallace's performance this weekend has kept me off of that bandwagon.

Obviously giving Dallas casino advice and not dunk contest tips.

Player Profile - Latrell Sprewell

New feature here on The Blingdom, player profiles. We'll start off with a good one, Latrell Sprewell.

Note: This post is a mixture of opinions and facts, I'll leave it up to you to find the difference.

Fast Facts:

- Latrell was drafted 24th overall in the 1992 draft by Golden State.

- Latrell made his first All-Star game in just his 3rd year in the league.

- Latrell averaged 18.8 ppg for his career with a high-water mark of 24.2 ppg in 1996-97.

- Latrell still holds the record for most 3 ptrs in a game without a miss (9)

- Latrell rarely ever dunked with one-hand. Almost any Spree dunk you can find is a two-handed throwdown.

- Latrell went to Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, MO.

- Poplar Bluff only has one river that runs through it.

The Teams

- Golden State (traded away for John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings)

- New York (traded away for Keith Van Horn, Glenn Robinson and Terrell Brandon)

- Minnesota (not re-signed)

The Story

Just saying that Spree moved along from Golden State, New York and Minnesota really doesn't do the man any justice. Spree had a real knack for wearing out his welcome on the teams he played for, and each time his exit begins with a one of a kind story.

In Golden State, Spree infamously tried to choke his coach P.J. Carlesimo during a practice. The alleged story is that Carlesimo told Sprewell to put "a little more mustard" on his passes, Sprewell was not in the mood for criticism, told his coach he would kill him and then dragged him to the ground.

A subsequent suspension cost Spree $6.4 million but it appeared to change him as a man. Sprewell remorsefully told 60 minutes "I wasn't choking P.J. that hard. I mean, he could breathe."

In New York, things went a little better for Spree, he led the team to an NBA finals and appeared to have rewarded the Knicks for taking a chance on him. Then in 2002, Spree proceeded to break his wrist and then lie to the Knicks by telling them he did it by slipping and falling on his yacht. The real story... he was in a fight on his yacht. We'll get to more on the yacht later on though.

In Minnesota, Spree performed well and led the team to a Western Conference Final. He averaged nearly 20 ppg and was understandably upset when the team offered him only $7 million a year for his services after the season. What wasn't understandable however was Spree's claim that he turned down the deal because, "He has kids to feed." Certainly a guy could feed his kids on $7 mil per season.

Which leads us to Latrell's life after basketball. Latrell had chances to sign with several teams after he was spurned by the T-Wolves but never accepted a contract. His agent told Sports Illustrated that Spree had turned down all of his offers because "Latrell doesn't need the money that badly." Not only does that directly contradict Spree saying that "He has kids to feed," but it's also a downright lie.

You see, Spree really, really needed the money. In August 2006, Spree was having a grand old time on the lakes of Wisconsin, riding around on his 70-foot yacht named "Milwaukee's Best." Yes, the same yacht that he was fighting on when he got in trouble with the Knicks.

So, as the story goes Spree reportedly tried to combine two of his favorite activities (yacht fighting and choking) when he choked a woman he was reportedly getting it on with on his yacht. No charges were filed against Spree in the incident but it was apparently enough to put a strain on his relationship with his "life companion" who later sued Latrell for a reported $200 million.

But the curse on "Milwaukee's Best" didn't end there. Latrell also once accidentally grounded the yacht in shallow waters. It eventually took several boats to help get the gigantic yacht back into the water after Spree refused to call to get the boat professionally salvaged.

The yacht was obviously only causing problems for Sprewell at this point. So he did what any honest man would do in the situation. He stopped making payments on it and had it repo'd.

Spree's boat was auctioned off to the highest bidder and soon afterwards his Milwaukee home was foreclosed and sold to the highest bidder as well. You see people, Latrell not only had kids to feed, he also had a lavish lifestyle to live and $7 million a year just wasn't going to make that work.

Let's by honest though, Latrell going bankrupt doesn't make him all that different from other professional basketball players. He's not the first and won't be the last to do it. NBA players typically live well beyond their means and do so while supporting just about everyone else around them. But Spree's bankruptcy story isn't just about "boats and hoes." It's a story of failed investment ideas as well.

You may remember that Latrell became famous for more than just his time on the basketball court during his prime. Latrell was also a businessman, and his business venture centered on selling "Spinners."

Times were good for Spree's Spinning Rims. They were shouted out in rap songs, appeared on numerous MTV Cribs episodes, and put Spree on the cover of magazines. But in the end "Spinners" passed out of consciousness faster than any of Spree's choking victims and this failed investment has to have led to Spree's current financial problems.

Latrell Sprewell: An all-Star, a businessman, a father and above all a choke artist.

Please tell me he's not gambling now... Wait?! Is that KG and Sam Cassell next to him?

Fandom Free Agency - #24 Golden State Warriors

The Warriors are the first team that I actually had to be convinced to eliminate. Don't get me wrong, they probably would have been eliminated eventually but I actually had no intentions of doing it this early until I heard a couple of compelling arguments for why I shouldn't root for Golden State.

The reason I wanted to keep them around is selfishly I kind of like the Warriors. Even if you haven't ever played NBA 2k10 you can probably imagine what it's like to play with Steph Curry in a video game.

Also, Monta Ellis is a big time player for my fantasy team. Say what you will about Monta playing basketball (and I will say some things later on...) but fantasy wise his 25.8 ppg, 5.5 assists and 2 steals translate very well. It doesn't much mater to me if he's shooting 30% from 3, I want him to keep shooting and he does.

Lastly, I have some great memories of the 2007 Warriors and their run in the playoffs. Those Warriors were must see TV and even though the players who dominated that series in Captain Jack, Al Harrington, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus (back when his name was pronounced Mic-KAY-ul), and of course Baron Davis have moved on I still have a soft spot for that team.

(Because I have to, a quick side note on that Baron Davis dunk I just linked... That is an unbelievably underrated moment in sports. It's a fantastic dunk but the reaction to it is just as fantastic. The roof almost comes off at Oracle Arena which you rarely see in the NBA, Adonal Foyle's face is priceless at the end, Captain Jack's natural reaction is to start brushing the dirt of Baron's shoulders and then there's Baron's reaction to it.

For some unknown reason Baron's first reaction was to untuck his shirt in celebration. It's a rarely seen reaction and it's just pure excitement from Baron at what he had just done. The only other time we see the shirt untuck move is in baseball after a walk-off home run. Just a great celebration in my book.)

Now, onto the reasons I will not be rooting for the Warriors at any point in the future.

Currently, my other professional sports teams are the Royals and Chiefs. These are two teams that have coaches who can be described as shaky at best. However, there can't be a coach in professional sports who is worse right now than Don Nelson of the Warriors.

Nelly has always had an odd coaching style. Sure, he has won in a few places but he basically did it by throwing a bunch of talented guys out on the floor and just letting chaos reign supreme. That 2007 Warriors team was a lot of things, but well-coached was not one of them.

Nowadays, it's a wonder if the most talented players even make it out on the floor for the Warriors. Captain Jack demanded out. Anthony Randolph may have more potential than anyone in the NBA, but Nelly has almost brought the kid to tears a couple of times. Then, when I watched a good portion of the Warriors vs. Thunder game on Sunday night I noticed just how absurd the Warriors rotations are this season. I wasn't the only one who noticed either, you have to watch this rant about the Warriors from NBA.com (Thanks to John Krenger for the assist on this one.)

I won't rehash everything in that rant but basically the Warriors have a guy in Andres Biedrins who once looked like an all-star and is now sharing time with former D-league players and the disgrace that is Ronny Turiaf.

While watching the Warriors vs. Thunder I actually witnessed on multiple occasions where Ronny Turiaf would hand the ball of to Monta Ellis and then just stand still with his hands on his hips. No attempt at a rebound, no picks or movement for him. Just hands on his hips watching Monta work. Turiaf isn't completely to blame for this. Monta had no intention of giving up the ball to anyone else so it really may have been a waste of Turiaf's time to continue working.

That's the biggest problem with the Warriors, they represent everything stereotypical of the NBA. The league really isn't all about selfish players who don't play D. There are several teams who thrive on great ball movement and defense, but you would never know it if you only watched the Warriors. He's some recent performances they had:

1/31 @ Thunder - Monta Ellis 9/24 for 24 pts, 2 asts, 5 TOs.

1/26 @ Kings - Corey Maggette 3/22, 13/16 fts for 19 pts, 4 TOs.

1/24 vs. Suns - Maggette and Ellis combined 20/48 for 52 pts.

1/20 vs. Nuggets - Ellis and Steph Curry combined 18/45 for 54 pts.

There's no arguing that those are a lot of points but it's really not that effective when you take so many shots. Also, that last game I listed against the Nuggets is the most worrisome of them all. I fear that Steph Curry could be catching on to how Monta plays ball. Curry could be a fantastic player some day but he has a high potential to be poisoned by Monta before that happens.

Monta is obviously playing for himself. Nelly has either lost his mind or this team is trying to tank and get John Wall. One can only imagine what Monta Ellis would do if he had to play with John Wall next season. I suggested on twitter that he may try to steal the ball from him on offense, but fighting him isn't out of the question either.

The Warriors are just a disfunctional team on too many levels. There's no reason to keep them around in my quest any longer.

Yes, that is a set of praying hands holding a gun on Jack's chest.

He's just one of the many big guns that voted himself off the Warriors.

Fandom Free Agency - #25 Utah Jazz

This is what my fandom free agency is all about. Teams battling it out and not letting me down on expectations. The New Jersey Nets have let a lot of people down this season, but as of today, I'm not one of them.

The Nets fail to meet just about every guideline I picked out for selecting a team. They aren't good, they don't have many players I like and let's face it, they also have a dumb team name. But before I wrote them off I had to test their NBA 2k10 playability.

This set up the first ever double fandom elimination game between the video game Nets and Jazz. Simple rules really, 12 minute quarters to decide who gets eliminated. The Nets lose and I deem them unplayable. The Jazz lose and I eliminate them because they're unable to beat the woeful Nets.

From the title of this post you can already see how the game went. A 132-127 Nets victory that left the Jazz fans in stunned and upset that I would not be joining them in the crowd at EnergySolutions Arena.

Now, without further adieu, I will attempt to break a record for the most in-depth coverage of a NBA video game.

LAWRENCE, KS| Times have been tough for Sean Williams. The troubled third-year power forward has battled injuries, and various personal problems since arriving at Boston College and then to the NBA's New Jersey Nets.

Williams, however, has always had talent and superb athleticism and there was no better time for Williams to show off that talent than in what was quite possibly the most meaningful game the Nets will play this year.

Williams and the Nets walked into EnergySolutions Arena knowing they're fandom free agency spot was on the line if they couldn't overcome a the Utah Jazz and a raucous home crowd. Everyone in the building knew it was a big game, it always is when Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg are in the building. The stars were out in force with Devin Harris scoring 31 with 18 assists and Deron Williams (no relation to Sean) having 19 and 21. But nobody shined brighter than Sean Williams who finished with 28-9-8 and had a beautiful foray of dunks that sucked the air right out of Utah.

Williams did his best work in the 2nd quarter, scoring 14 points on 6 dunks including an alley-oop from Devin Harris that may give Mehmet Okur nightmares for years to come.

The barrage of dunks had the Nets up by 11 at halftime, but the Jazz came storming back in the 3rd to take a 1 point lead going into the 4th thanks the Deron Williams and fellow Utah guard Ronnie Brewer who finished with 36.

Then came one of the most tightly contested 4th quarters the NBA has ever seen. Both teams exchanging buckets and neither team having a bigger lead than 5 until Terrence Williams (again, no relation to Sean) took the game over in the final 3 minutes.

The rookie scored 9 points in the final 3 minutes including two dunks and a dagger of a 3-pointer in the final minute to lock up the game for the Nets.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock the Nets celebrated as if they'd won a NBA title (and really, this may be as close as they get to one) as the Jazz hung their heads knowing they had lost a potential fan because of their loss to the woeful Nets.

But really Utah, you should have seen this coming like the Knicks. You can't build a roster of players from Duke, Illinois, Arkansas and a russian who occasionally cries during press conferences. The loss to the Nets was merely the straw that broke the camel's back.

Sorry Deron, but #1 you are not.

Fandom Free Agency - #26 New York Knicks

We have our second elimination via an elimination game.

Tonight, I gave the Knicks a chance to knock off the Lakers and a save themselves from fandom elimination. A tall task, no doubt, but it's no secret I don't like the Knicks and they needed a big time showing to stay alive.

The Knicks put up a fight holding Kobe to 14 points through the first 3 quarters and actually taking a 1 point lead into the 4th. But eventually fell to the Lake Show 114-104.

It would have taken a lot for me to pick the Knicks as my team. I view the Knicks as the Yankees of the NBA, the only difference is, the Knicks have a salary cap to deal with. Imagine how cash strapped the Yankees would be if they had to keep their high-paid, terrible players like Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano the way the Knicks had to keep Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry.

The Knicks are far from the young team I want to grow with, and they don't even have a #1 pick this season. In fact, the Knicks are a perfect example of why it's odd for my to be doing this selecting during this season. Come next season the Knicks, like many teams, will look completely different from the team they have this year.

I like guys like Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari and David Lee, but really there's no guarantee that any of those guys will be on the team next season.

Sure, the Knicks may end up with LeBron or D Wade after this season, but that's what I'm picking on right now. I'm forced to look at their roster and see guys Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries and Toney Douglas. Little hope for the future as far as I can see.

The Knicks have a ton of history, I'm not eliminating them because of their weak team name like the Raptors and Grizzlies. There's a lot to respect about the Knicks. I truly believe Donnie Walsh will turn them around one day, but I will not be rooting for them when that happens.

And the Knicks, like the Raptors, have the Isiah Thomas Era to thank for that.

Fandom Free Agency - #27 Memphis Grizzlies

This one was actually a little tough. I debated quite a few teams to be the next eliminated. The Jazz, Nets, Knicks and my eventual choice the Grizzlies were all up for consideration. All of those teams are officially on notice.

Then, I almost made tonight's Suns v. Hawks game on ESPN an elimination game for the Suns. I wanted a team that would do my bidding and if the Suns couldn't come through tonight and knock off the Hawks I was going to eliminate them. I decided not to do it.

The Suns would have been the first team I eliminated that had a member of my fantasy team on it, and my newfound love for Channing Frye helped move them off the chopping block. But the biggest reason the Suns were sparred from the guillotine was this video found on YouTube. How could I eliminate a team after watching that? That's a team to root for.

So, my string of not eliminating fantasy players continued but this elimination does come with a first. The Grizzlies are the first team I'm axing that have a former KU player on their team, Darrell Arthur.

DA is a tough guy to sacrifice too. A quick trip to Darrell's facebook Fan Page will surprise you when you look at who created the group. Yep, that's me.

This year though, Darrell hasn't even played a game for a surprisingly good Grizzlies team. Overall, I think it's fair to say Darrell has done more harm than good for the city of Memphis.

The elimination isn't Darrell's fault. It's his teammate's fault. I don't see one player on their active roster I'd like to root for except Rudy Gay, who won't even be around after this season. As for DeMarre Carroll, don't even go there.

Most of all though, I can't root for their GM Chris Wallace. I'll give some credit for putting together an OK team this season but this is the guy who screwed up the Iverson signing this offseason, drafted Hasheem Thabeet #2 overall and literally gave Pau Gasol to the Lakers a few years back.

Also, I said in the original post that I want a team I can root for in the playoffs and while the Grizz are doing OK this year, I don't think they'll make it. Even if they did, they would assuredly be swept in the first round. Little known fact is that the Grizzlies franchise has never won a playoff game, 3 appearances and they're 0-12.

Lastly though, I'd be a hypocrite for rooting for the Grizzlies after eliminating the Raptors. Obviously the Grizz aren't in Canada anymore, but their team nickname is just silly and has a lot of similarities to the Raptors silly team name. Like Toronto, Vancouver gave the Grizz a team color of Naismith Blue which, like Naismith Silver has an equal amount of dumb.

Also, when the original naming was being done one of the options was the Vancouver Mounties which obviously would have been incredible. Instead the team was named the Grizzlies and it stuck through their move to Memphis.

Obviously, there are no grizzly bears in Memphis barring an exhibit at what is apparently America's #1 Zoo. I just can't understand what prevents teams from changing their team name when they move to a new city. Apparently when the team was moving to Memphis, FedEx made a strong push to name the team the Memphis Express after their company but the NBA overruled the decision and they decided to stick with Grizzlies. Weak.

But don't be too down Memphis, you've still got that Zoo.

An even rarer sighting in Memphis than an actual bear.

Good, Better, Best, Bestest - 1/12/10

Bringing to you the best of the Internet in a very particular order:

Good - Mike Tyson still has it. The man who once said he would "eat your children" gave some more great threats to Hornswoggle from the WWE.

Better - Always been a fan of Baron Davis. Here's a very well put together video of Boom Dizzle dribbling around the streets of New York City.

Best - Very underrated moment from the weekend in sports was Steve Breaston oozing machismo and imitating Razor Ramon in this TD celebration. I sent a text to a few friends as soon as I saw it, but I have to add this to the many reasons I don't like Joe Buck. As soon as I saw the celebration I knew there was no chance Buck would recognize it's greatness during the game.

Bestest - I really don't know how to describe the electric glide from LT. But I love every second of it.