Game 22: Golden State Warriors (18-3) @ Los Angeles Clippers (16-6) - 10:30 PM ET

[nickhx2]

sure you can trade him at the deadline but your statement was that if clips didn't make conference finals then doc would trade him so he could supplant him with austin. by then jj would be a free agent.

[mattd13]

I was upset about the gs game and how bad we played when I made that comment . the way it looks doc is desperate to get Austin in the line up. hell, jj may be gone by the deadline. he has been struggling lately so he needs to pick it up. I just can not stomach watching Austin and doc's use of him and others in the rotation is amazing. sadly this will most likely be my last year as a fan of the nba. it has become the wwe of pro sports. corruption is an ugly business.

[Neddy]

I was upset about the gs game and how bad we played when I made that comment . the way it looks doc is desperate to get Austin in the line up. hell, jj may be gone by the deadline. he has been struggling lately so he needs to pick it up. I just can not stomach watching Austin and doc's use of him and others in the rotation is amazing. sadly this will most likely be my last year as a fan of the nba. it has become the wwe of pro sports. corruption is an ugly business.

try watching the game 6 of 2001 WCFs. you may change your mind about how 'lately it has "become" corrupt' comment. I get what you are saying and I don't disagree, but what Doc is doing is correctable easily by big Steve simply calling Doc's BS. some other "corruptions" go much deeper and more sinister than that.

the worst culprit IMO of a corrupt organization, is the NCAA division 1 sports. one and done in basketball is supposed to provide what to these kids? lowering the standards to 1.8 GPA to get the second semester eligibility and they are to learn humililty? humanity? with what? mass communication 101? developmental Math and English courses? the college football coaches make 3, 4, 5 millions a year, the schools collect 100s of millions collectively between their jersey sales, TV deals, advertisements, boosters, and ticket sales, and if these kids get too hurt to play, they lose their scholarships and are shown the door too often. and people watch college games for the "purity" of a sport. give me a break. (not to you per se, just saying this is one of my petpeeves with people who say they don't like pros but only watch college games) hockey and baseball players can get drafted out of high school, and those sports tend to have a much larger white faces that appear family friendly to the TV viewers at home but basketball and football has a ton of dark skinned players who talk with an urban slang that seems too unfriendly for TV viewers, so these leagues forced all players to enter college before they can be drafted... institutionalized racism that people just don't see because they don't want to see it. either educate the kids to the fullest, or let all sports be equal to all kids. if you can enter NHL or MLB draft at 17 as a high school senior, should you too also be allowed in NBA or NFL. using these kids to milk the two most popular college sports, is a mafia-esque racketeering at its finest. don't want corrupt sports on TV? boycott NCAA first!

compared to that, WWE is a clean business, they never try to tell you what they are selling is a genuine athletic competition but an "entertainment".

[nickhx2]

pretty much why i can't stand ncaa sports

[mattd13]

I have to say I agree with almost all of it. I am much older than you guys and I have just about seen it all evolve into what big money has done to sports in general. I love all sports but now I only watch because of a player I happen to like and not because I like the team. most of todays players just turn me off for a lot of reasons. that is a subject for another day.

[Neddy]

I have to say I agree with almost all of it. I am much older than you guys and I have just about seen it all evolve into what big money has done to sports in general. I love all sports but now I only watch because of a player I happen to like and not because I like the team. most of todays players just turn me off for a lot of reasons. that is a subject for another day.

are you retired in Tampa area?

I wanted to PM you about yesteryears of sports and shoot some nostalgic BS with you but you don't seem to have that contact bubble under your avatar to PM you with. most forums used to have a 100 post limits for PM capacites and thread making abilities but you have more than 400, not sure what's going on.

I don't know how old you are but I do remember you mentioning something about that before when Don Tommy and I were talking about being in our 40s, PM me if you can, let's talk about when Bo ran over Boz or when Dan Marino scored the worst ever Wonderlic test in NFL.

[mattd13]

I have not used a pm. I looked at my profile and did not see that I needed to make a change. I am 71 and I have seen jim brown, johnny u, bob liliy, larry bird, etc. play in person. I was a swimmer in college and my coach had gold metal winners in 68 at mexico city. I still coach privately and have a grandson who will likely play something at the pro level. would love to chat and have enjoyed your posts and insight.

[mattd13]

I have not used a pm. I looked at my profile and did not see that I needed to make a change. I am 71 and I have seen jim brown, johnny u, bob liliy, larry bird, etc. play in person. I was a swimmer in college and my coach had gold metal winners in 68 at mexico city. I still coach privately and have a grandson who will likely play something at the pro level. would love to chat and have enjoyed your posts and insight.

[Neddy]

I have not used a pm. I looked at my profile and did not see that I needed to make a change. I am 71 and I have seen jim brown, johnny u, bob liliy, larry bird, etc. play in person. I was a swimmer in college and my coach had gold metal winners in 68 at mexico city. I still coach privately and have a grandson who will likely play something at the pro level. would love to chat and have enjoyed your posts and insight.

my god, you have seen everything... of course compared to those names and their era, the last 2-3 decades of sports has gone the ways of "entertainment" rather than competition, and with the explosion of social media and complete lack of personal space or respect for that matter, guys like Mickey Mantle and his night life would have buried him similar to Johnny Manziel did. of course I am not comparing Johnny Manziel to Mickey Mantle in terms of athletic abilities, Mantle is a HOFer and Johnny boy is just lost. but in absence of twitters, instagram, or facebook, Johnny may still be able to hold a clipboard for someone rather than being out of the game entirely.
as for this NBA thing, I believe David Stern stumbled upon the secret to a sports league building when Larry and Magic just showed up one day, and started this eastcoast-westcoast, white working class hero vs black flamboyant hollywood star, the best of the yesteryears in Boston Celtics, once the most prized marquee name that had faded at the time of Larry's arrival, versus Magic's Lakers from the west that literally had the best star named West in Jerry, the most dominant players back to back to anchor in Wilt and Kareem that was already the new marquee name in the game. that was the perfect storm and the whole country ate it up. Stern learned from this, and when Larry and Magic retired, he allowed the next superstar to shine, and marketed MJ as the greatest, but we also can agree that in those years, the "MJ Rules" were often laughed at and imitated on playgrounds all across the country, such as 4 step layups, switching pivot foot, palming the ball suddenly no longer called carrying the way it used to, but those rules would still apply to lesser players.
Stern also learned that a large blackman with high school only education was not ideal for the league's reputation, and started this NCAA-NBA talent streamlining to mutually benefit both leagues financially, while giving titles of player such and such, from such and such university being announced instead to give better PR at evrey arena on nightly basis. if you think about this, NBA and NFL are the only 2 leagues that does this. NHL doesn't announce what school each player is from, and MLB suddenly doesn't care. broadcasters may say such player is from Russia at left wing, or such pitcher is from Vanderbilt, but it is not part of the program.
I can't say David Stern was wrong in business sense, because it obviously worked. I believe he tilted the odds since the 90s to promote the game and push for higher ratings, revenues, and such. but it certainly took the joy of watching a clean, no-controversy calls dictating the outcome. I find it funny that there seems to be no bad calls that decides the outcome at my daughter's Jr High games but it seems to happen o-so often in the playoffs of NBA.

I would have much rather preferred to talk about such conspiracy sounding topics in private, hopefully we can get you with a PM function soon, lol.

[mattd13]

I started watching the nba in the bill Russell era and fell in love with his play and way to win. what he went through and survived was amazing. after all these years it is sad to see what has happened to sports in general. on another note, I just read renaldo in soccer made 240 mil. in 2015. that is just insane. then I read LeBron wants to be the next warren buffet. my grandson sees this and it becomes almost impossible to keep him grounded. playing to have fun and enjoying the game gets lost. he has practice 5 days a week, 2 private lessons, and plays all day sat. and sun. on almost every weekend. it is almost like a full time job. teams are calling every week to get him to guest play. it is all I can do to keep him and his parents on the right path. he is 9 years old and almost everyone in florida youth sports know who he is. in a few more years the vultures will start circling. that is what sports has become.

[Neddy]

well? hope you let us get the first dip on your grandson when the time comes. mostly autographs and photo op, lol.

my son is 9 too, and I can't imagine what you are describing. my boy is as free as he can be, he does take drum lessons once a week, got in trouble in school for smacking some girl in the booty the other day but from what I hear she was doing it to him first, I don't think it was an act in any way that was sexual in nature. he's got friends who get in the same trouble with him in most part, do good with the same group of kids that he hangs out with, and loves to kick me out of the bed and sleep with his momma. my teenage daughter plays basketball but plays it poorly. she trys hard but not anywhere near what you can call a competitive ball. they are kids as kids should be at their respective ages.

hey good luck brother, hope your grandkid can become the lotto winner and it would be supercool to know we knew it first before anyone else a decade before.

meanwhile, I hope the mods can help you gain the PM function!

[mattd13]

thanks, I will keep you posted.