Even though these Finals were pretty boring, the NBA played one of the better playoffs in my memory and pulled off the “bubble”. Proving that with hard work and diligence Covid can be contained. Hats off to the best league.
The NHL did it as well over 2 separate bubbles.
Funny how the NBA season ended seven months to the day after the NBA season was suspended because of COVID.
I generally don’t like Bill Simmons anymore, but he’s on the latest Lowe Post and had an interesting and valid point about the Lakers’ claim to tying the Celtics with 17 championships.
He of course says that the Los Angeles Lakers only have 12 while the Boston Celtics have 17, and that the Minneapolis Lakers have 5. Expected, for him, but some solid logic in my opinion to back it up. Are people in OKC comforted by the 1979 championship their franchise won in Seattle? If the Lakers celebrate 5 championships from their Minneapolis days, wby haven’t they retired George Milan’s number?
It’s a silly thing to an outsider to the feud, but I can’t argue with the logic. What matters at the end of the day is what the league recognizes, meaning the Lakers have 17. But it’s an interesting argument in my opinion.
At the end of the day Lakers fans should take the easy win and ask how many rings each team has in the last 30 years.
I liked that point too. The idea of OKC fans claiming the Seattle title was funny.
It’s the town. Another good example is how when Charlotte got the Hornets name back they leaned into all the history of those teams with Zo, Larry Johnson, Bogues, etc. They rightly consider those Hornets the predecessor to their current Hornets.
Different sport but do the indianapolis Colts claim the Baltimore Super Bowls under Unitas?
I think they do.
If the team name doesn't change the championships transfer, right?
I can’t speak for all sports but it seems to be pretty case-by-case for the NBA. The other one that came to mind for me is the Kings. They can trace their roots to the Rochester Royals, who won a championship in 1951. I believe the NBA 2k games count that as a win in their Team History section. However, if you look at the team history section of kings.com, they talk about “their history” as 1985-present, which encapsulates their time in Sacramento.
If you change the name and the city, the history definitely shouldn't count. If you just change the city... I kind of think it shouldn't count then either. I don't think the two are separable, that is why they are the Los Angeles Lakers, not just the Lakers. You move, you start over.
Seems pretty accurate to say the LA Lakers have won 12 and Minneapolis Lakers won 5.
But the Lakers as a franchise have won 17.
It's not complicated. It seems pretty clear it's just Simmons throwing grenades at Lakers fans. Which you kind of have to expect when the Lakers win a championship. What's he going to do, criticize LeBron's play in the playoffs?
Brooklyn Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
Las Vegas Raiders
Memphis Grizzlies
Basketball seems to be a weird one.
I just can't take Simmons at face value here. He's like an up-jumped Stu Gotz or Mad Dog who happened to rub shoulders with A-listers for awhile.
I think basketball is an odd-ball. The one example I can think of in another sports is the Browns/Ravens situation. Don't Browns fans claim the entire history of the Browns in Cleveland?
Crazy to think this thread was started in Sept 16 2019. How young we were.
Crazy to think this thread was started in Sept 16 2019. How young we were.
Its-Been-84-Years.gif
I think basketball is an odd-ball. The one example I can think of in another sports is the Browns/Ravens situation. Don't Browns fans claim the entire history of the Browns in Cleveland?
They do but that was sanctioned by the league. The vast majority of teams claim the history of where they moved from regardless of league. In hockey, the Arizona (formerly Phoenix) Coyotes used to be the Winnipeg Jets. They've claimed that team's history and have the same retired numbers. The Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became...the Winnipeg Jets and have re-retired the previous teams' numbers.
The current Winnipeg Jets have acknowledged the original Jets' history on a number of occasions, despite the lack of historical connection between the two incarnations. The original franchise's division and Avco Cup championships currently hang atop the rafters of Bell MTS Place, as are the honoured numbers of the original Jets who were inducted into the current Jets' Hall of Fame. They have also worn throwback uniforms of the original Jets on a few occasions, and brought back the Whiteout tradition in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Despite this, the Arizona Coyotes still, technically, own the the originals' history and records.
Bill Simmons a completely unapologetic Boston sports fan. Of course, he's going to talk smack about the Lakers, our biggest rival, winning a championship. As a fellow (former) New Englander and Boston sports fan, I would expect nothing less.
IMO, none of it is mean-spirited. He's not Clay Travis.
Bill Simmons a completely unapologetic Boston sports fan. Of course, he's going to talk smack about the Lakers, our biggest rival, winning a championship. As a fellow (former) New Englander and Boston sports fan, I would expect nothing less.
IMO, none of it is mean-spirited. He's not Clay Travis.
Of course not. It's silly, at best.
Generally a franchise's history moves with the franchise. So, as an example, the Indy Colts have the Baltimore Colts' history, LV Raiders have Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders' history. And so forth. Officially at least. The various leagues may rule differently in specific circumstances (Hornets in the NBA, Browns in the NFL, as examples) but those are exceptions.
Depends on the circumstances. Typically if a franchise moves then it keeps the history of the franchise. So yes the Lakers have 17 championships split between two cities. The City doesn’t own that team (typically) so they have no claim to the franchise. Thus when the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee and took the name Titans they still have all the history of the Oilers despite the name change. The Houston Texans don’t get the Oilers franchise as part of their history.
The Smart Van Gundy got a new job!
With Zion!
!!!
It will be very easy to form an f-ing wall with Zion.
Congratulations... Kevin?
probably the furthest thing from anyone's mind right now, but does anyone want to play fantasy basketball (again) this season?
RIP Tommy Heinsohn. Beloved in Boston. Despised most everywhere else because of cool, insightful, unbiased commentary like this.
probably the furthest thing from anyone's mind right now, but does anyone want to play fantasy basketball (again) this season?
I could be... enabled.
Shams Charania reporting that the Hornets might be a suitor for Westbrook, who apparently wants out after one year in Houston.
That would certainly garner some national interest in the team and draw some fans but I doubt they’d do any better with him than they did Kemba. 42-44 wins and a first round playoff exit.
As a Hornets fan, very torn. They could use the Heat. But I think he’s a vastly overrated player and won’t push the franchise forward in the long term.
And rumors Toronto may play in Tampa Bay this season.
And rumors Toronto may play in Tampa Bay this season.
What? That's wild and also dangerous given the spread in Florida.
And rumors Toronto may play in Tampa Bay this season.
I think it’s basically a foregone conclusion that they’ll be somewhere in the USA.
The Westbrook thing reminds me of this video. lol
Honestly, at what point do we acknowledge that Harden and the way he demands the team play is the problem in Houston? I know Westbrook is a polarizing player and a very selfish player with bad judgement at times, but Harden keeps cycling through superstars that basically hate playing with him.
Not sure if anyone caught the article that started all of this news, but this jumped out at me.
In another instance, Rivers was barked at by Harden after the former MVP missed a free throw and blamed Rivers—who was standing up by the bench—for distracting him.
Stele wrote:And rumors Toronto may play in Tampa Bay this season.
I think it’s basically a foregone conclusion that they’ll be somewhere in the USA.
Yep. Louisville was in the early discussions but players didn't feel safe there after Breonna Taylor and the subsequent issues with LMPD. Article today also mentioned Nashville had been looked at too but TB leading right now.
Pages