The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

To say the NBA off-season has been crazy would be like saying politicians sometimes exaggerate, as it'd be quite the understatement. With the Golden State Warriors having won the title two of the past three years, quite possibly being one technical foul away from three straight, the rest of the league is attempting to play catch-up. Heading into the coming season, and deservedly so, the Warriors will again be favored to reign supreme at season's end, but four teams (in particular) are certainly doing everything in their power to alter that fate: Boston, Cleveland, Houston, and Oklahoma City. Let's now run down these four teams' off-season acquisitions, how they look going into the 2017-2018 season, and how they stack up against the league-champion Golden State Warriors. Boston Celtics Off-season acquisitions: Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Morris Starting Lineup: PG Kyrie Irving, SG Jaylen Brown, SF Gordon Hayward, PF Marcus Morris, and C Al Horford Pro...

The NBA season is finally over, so I thought I'd provide some closing thoughts: - While NBA analyst Charles Barkley is entertaining at times, the guy comes across as batsh*t crazy at others (or perhaps it's this batsh*t craziness which makes him entertaining). The man can't seem to given an ounce of respect for the Golden State Warriors, even though the team won the championship a year ago and had the best record in league history this season. The team may be drastically different to teams he played for a couple decades ago, but give credit where credit is due. Not only has he made a habit of bashing the Warriors, he hasn't been coy about bashing LeBron James. Even after James' incredible close to the finals, resulting in his third championship ring, Barkley decided it was again time to say the finals MVP still doesn't rank in his top 5 of all time. The guy isn't receiving letters from AARP just yet. He has three championships to his credit, not to mention...

Throughout Golden State's record-breaking season this year, former NBA players have continually attempted to minimize the team's accomplishments. Scottie Pippen suggested his Chicago Bulls teams of the past would sweep the Warriors in a best-of-7 series. Charles Barkley has refused to jump on the Warriors bandwagon, even after the team won the title a year ago. Now it's Hall-of-Famer Gary Payton's turn, as he recently said the following about 2-time MVP Stephen Curry: "Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were also worthy of the distinction (unanimous MVP vote) that the Curry vote was about era. I think all of those guys were unanimous decisions, too. It just happened in an era that went his way. I commend him and what he's accomplished. But you gotta think about who was voting for MJ, Kareem, in their time, why they wouldn't have given all their votes to those guys. ... If you look at LeBron, what he does for...

Truth be told, I'm a sports nut and an over-analyzer. Even so, I still find it ridiculous to be debating the never-possible match-up of the 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors and the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls.  In the '95-'96 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls set a league record by going 72-10 during the course of the regular season. Many players, coaches, and analysts alike thought the record would never be broken. If the Golden State Warriors win at home tomorrow night against the Memphis Grizzlies, they will do just that and finish the season 73-9. So what is every NBA analyst under the sun discussing? Who would win in a 7-game series between the two teams. I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. It would have been one thing if the two teams had broken the league's regular season win record in back-to-back seasons, but it's quite another for the record-setting teams to be separated by two decades. The game is much different in 2016 than it was in 1996. In '96 teams ...

In a recent airing of ESPN Radio's Waddle & Silvy show, former NBA great and current NBA analyst Charles Barkley had this to say about the 25-1 and defending champion Golden State Warriors: "That Bulls team would kill this little team. Come on, man. Who is going to guard Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan? What about Dennis Rodman?" He added: "Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman -- let me just start with those three. First of all they would love playing the way the Warriors play. It's a much easier game now. Could you imagine how many points Michael would average if you couldn't touch him? Dennis would get so many rebounds against that team. They are a very small team." I'm sorry, but isn't this kind of silly? Why do so many sports fans find it necessary to debate impossible hypotheticals? It'd be one thing to ponder about and debate hypotheticals of a single season. In college football this year, it made sense to ask,...