Posts Tagged ‘Hall of Fame’
Review: The Book of Basketball
March 15th, 2010 | Author: ProfessorDunk
Simmons’ The Book of Basketball delves into the depths of basketball history, starting with the pre-shot clock era and ending with the stars of the current millennium. All the while you get knowledgeable insight from one of the greatest basketball minds in the world.
The structure of the book, although not a straight narrative, makes it a very easy read. Though annotations give the impression of a basketball encyclopedia, don’t be discouraged by the countless footnotes.
One chapter discusses The Secret of basketball, another delves into the subject of who was better: Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain. The book also addresses the many “what ifs” of the basketball worlds, such as: What if the Detroit Pistons took Carmelo Anthony over Darko Milicic? What if Kobe Bryant signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2004? What if Atlanta Hawks took Chris Paul with the number two pick of the 2005 draft?
These are just a few of the “what if” scenarios; there are 33 in all. Along with that, the book provides a breakdown of every NBA MVP award since its inception, along with an analysis of its recipients. It names players who justifiably won the award, ones who should have.
You will find out who the greatest team in NBA history was. Along with who are the players in their primes that would represent Earth if its faith was ever to be decided in a game of basketball, something like: ‘92 Jordan, ‘77 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and ‘05 Ron Artest.
I cannot forget to tell you that his book is 700 pages long. However, no need to panic, this number just seems quite large, but in reality reading the book is a breeze.
But the book doesn’t stop there. There are about 250 pages devoted to Hall of Fame Pyramid, which is basically a ranking of the players who would be in Bill Simmons’ revamped version of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
There is so much more to write about the book. Trying to condense 700 pages worth of information into 450 words is a task of infinite futility. If you like basketball then you will enjoy this book. If you love basketball, then you will wonder when Simmons is coming out with the follow up.
If anything, this book will become your basketball Bible to which you will be making countless references and maybe even quoting some of the passages in support of your beliefs. Thereby, solidifying Bill Simmons as a god of basketball knowledge.
Allen Iverson: Failure of the Memphis Experiment
November 10th, 2009 | Author: ProfessorDunk
The time has come. Allen Iverson could possibly be out of the NBA. Memphis Grizzlies experiment hasn’t worked out as well as everyone has hoped. Well, at least not as Iverson wanted it to be.
Relegated to coming of the bench, Iverson adjusted well to a reserve role that was never a part of his repertoire. Could a player such as Iverson ever really accept an unselfish role and be a real team player? Definitely not.
Larry Brown appeared to be the only basketball entity that was able to curtail Iverson’s whims. Thus, Iverson was able to reach the NBA Finals (eventually losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Iverson was loved in Philly, he gave the city of brotherly love his all, but apparently that was not enough. In the end he could not give himself to the city. In a city that would have lauded him as its greatest hero, maybe even greater than Rocky Marciano, Iverson could never mend himself in order to mesh with a personality that rivaled his own.
Chris Webber and Iverson could’ve taken the 76ers to the top.
Who in their right mind would want to play with Iverson? Did he solidify the Detroit Pistons? They probably wanted to trade him soon after he arrived in the Motor City.
Iverson, a player that pushes himself harder than anyone else can push themselves, is not the kind of player that demands respect and emulation. He is the prototypical ball-hog that so many of us have encountered playing on the playgrounds, the kind of player that no one wants to play with.
Iverson will probably make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, but he is not truly deserving of that honor. Being inducted into the Hall of fame should signify a player’s greatness. Great players are not judged solely on the stats that they accumulate over their careers. They are judged on the merit of their accomplishments and how positively they impacted the game. What positive impact did Iverson have?
Great players are supposed to make the people around them better. How many people can call themselves Iverson’s teammates? How many more can say that they were better of playing with Iverson?
Great players don’t always win a championship during their careers. In that way life is cruel in the way that it would play a sick joke on someone not deserving of that honor. If Iverson never wins an NBA championship throughout his illustrious (sic) career, that wouldn’t faze even one bit. But, if somehow an opportunity presents it self so that Iverson’s is close to one to that elusive dream, then failure would be a fitting joke that life can ever play on a man.
Tags: 76ers, Allen Iverson, Chris Webber, Detroit Pistons, Hall of Fame, Larry Brown, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia | 
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