The best video on YouTube (if you can stomach it.)

Yep, that's highlights of every single 40+ point game 'The Answer' ever had. If you are crazy enough to sit and watch it for two hours, you will remember why some considered him- pound for pound- the best player EVER.

Stern already did it to Seattle.

The NBA is locked out. The last team we saw play was the Dallas Mavericks. We watch Summer Leagues and double the amount of football. We don't know how but we just want basketball back. We are getting a sneak peak into the life of a Sonics fan. Words like 'revenue' and 'profitability' mean a lot more to a Sonics fan than they do to you. They've heard it all before. They've been locked out since 2008.

Sunday, April 13, 2008, Key Arena, Seattle, WA-

Earl Watson, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Nick Collison, Johan Petro. These five names would make up the last ever Seattle Supersonics starting lineup. Playing Shooting Guard (out of position) in P.J Carlisemo's gut wrenchingly bad offence, was Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant would become a two time NBA scoring champion and worldwide basketball superstar in a matter of years, but today he was playing his last game for the team that took him #2 in 2007 NBA Draft. It was a strange scenario, it didn't feel like the end. Until the end;  "SAVE OUR SONICS" echoed through the rafters, the team managed to pull out a win against the perrenial contender Dallas Mavericks. The atmosphere was electric but suddenly turned cold and bitter, it was all over. 41 years of history, 41 years of memories, 41 years of some of the greatest athletes on earth; gone.

The Reason? David Stern.

Many members of the media claimed that Seattle did not do enough to keep the Sonics. Fans from other cities told the city "too little too late".

Fast forward to October 2, 2011. Labor talks had resumed in New York after a series of unspectacular failed negotiations. Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat had only shown his face at the talks a couple of times sinc ethe lockout was confirmed and was actually targeted as not doing enough about the situation (listening, Sonics fans?). However, Wade had been keeping out of the spotlight but still up to date with every development, or lack thereof, in the CBA negotiations. He attended the latest meeting along with the agenda of more direct involvement but not to take centre stage. David Stern begins his usual manipulative with his weak followers alongside (Mr Bennett, anyone?). During a speech, Stern gesticulates with a finger point towards the players. These negotiations had been heated yet civil since July, just as the actions of Supersonics fans were quiet yet urgent through that whole last season. Dwayne Wade springs from his chair and shouts "You're not pointing your finger at me. I'm not your child".

This was Wade's Save our Sonics rally, this was wade's heartfelt cry for help during the Mavericks game in '08, this was a reaction to a bully. A bully is calculating and subtle by nature. They'll seem your best friend one minute and take your Basketball franchise the next (or you know, whatever). The point is that the NBA has been scared of Stern for a t least a decade now and it's time for that to end. His act has worn thin. Dwayne Wade may not have helped the talks. He may have angered the most powerful man in basketball, but he wasn't letting himself or any single other player be bullied anymore.

Thanks to the greed and manipulation of one man, Seattle might never end their lockout. The only number Stern didn't want to increase was 41.

Some things aren't meant to be predicted. They're meant to be.

 

NBA Finals MVP Lebro.. Dirk Nowitzki?!

As the first significantly depressing date (namely the day training camps were supposed to start) arrives, I have decided not to look into the uncertain future of our league but into the past. This time last year, the term 'CBA' meant nothing to most of us and 'The Decision' was still the hot topic. This time last year, Jason Terry was getting another tattoo done. Of course, that is of no significance. At all.

I'm sure I am in no way in the minority when I say I love the start of training camp. Love. After a summer of flirting with the World Cup and Wimbledon, the idea of having my beloved NBA back is always tantalising. At a stage where you would happily watch Boris Diaw and Brian Cardinal play 1 on 1 for 48 minutes, all of the training camp coverage feels like Christmas come early.

The three that I'm sure everybody was looking at as contenders for the Larry O'Brien trophy were the 2010 Champion Lakers, 2008 Champion Celtics and newly assembled Miami Heat 'Big Three'. There was a lot of buzz around the young and talented OKC Thunder aswell as  the compulsary "Gilbert Arenas is back to his best" and Orlando Magic buzz, but there wasn't much to think about other than these three teams.

The Lakers were the defending Champions and returned with the acquisitions of Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, two experienced veterans; they looked the real deal yet again. The Celtics steadied their Finals-worthy frontcourt with the addition of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'neal. Then there was the Miami Heat. The fanfair surrounding 'The Decision' had lead a large proportion of the basketball community to wish failure on this team, the rest of the NBA to hold a grudge and the media to watch their every move, praying for a slip-up. Sure enough, that first slip up came just days after the Big Three were put together, "Not one Championship, not two, not three"; the proportion of the basketball community wishing failure upon the Heat doubled.

The rest of the NBA was filled with young talent like Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon's Clippers and Perpetual choke artists like 67 year old Jason Kidd's Mavs. With this in mind we should remember that despite all the blogs, podcasts, play-by-plays, bar chat and Slam magazine articles, 99.9% had no idea what was coming.

Sure, the Mavericks had a talented roster. However, that's been true every year for the last decade. Aside from throwing away the 2006 Finals, what had this team achieved. Great players had come and gone, Dirk Nowitzki had had some truly remarkable years, and they had put together some balanced rosters. No championship. Why would this older version of the perpetual underperformers be any more successful? The answer? they wouldn't. We all knew they wouldn't. Right?

An entire season passes, we still had no idea what was coming. The Mavericks marginally get through a series with the Blazers, we still had no idea what was coming. The Mavericks reach the finals, we still had no idea what was coming. Just weeks later, Dirk Nowitzki has gone from the Finals Choke-artist to all time great, Jason Kidd finally has his ring and Mark Cuban barely said a thing for two months. None of us saw it coming. 

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the cancellation of training camp, which is the first step to cancelling the season, we have to remember that great things are still possible. Great things that we don't know about yet. 

We had no idea what was coming. Jason Terry's tattoo artist however..