The NBA Thread

There’s been nothing too outrageous happening so far in the new season, other than the Knicks being shite but we’re used to that so might as well open up with the old reliable here, aka Micheal Jordan.

Mint Condition: Flu Game Shoes For Sale

A former Utah Jazz[/URL] ball boy is preparing to auction off the sneakers worn by [URL=‘http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/1035/michael-jordan’]Michael Jordan[/URL] during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when the iconic guard famously battled through flu-like symptoms while leading the [URL=‘http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/chi/chicago-bulls’]Chicago Bulls to a narrow victory.

Preston Truman revealed during a recent interview with The Salt Lake Tribune that Jordan gave him the shoes after the contest, known as “The Flu Game.”

Multiple auction houses have verified the authenticity of the sneakers, which Truman had been storing at a bank for nearly 17 years, according to the Tribune. Bidding will begin at $5,000 Monday.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/1113/nba_g_jordan_b1_200x300.jpg
Despite battling flu-like symptoms that nearly forced him to miss the game, Michael Jordan scored 38 points to rally Chicago past Utah in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.

Although he has treasured the sneakers since receiving them, Truman said he is ready to part ways with the famous memorabilia.

“I’m 35, and 40’s just right around the corner, and it seems like time goes by faster the older you get,” he told the paper. “Maybe it’s just time to get those things out there.”

Truman, who was an 18-year-old ball boy for the Jazz during the 1996-97 season, told the Tribune that he granted a pregame request by Jordan when the Bulls were at the Delta Center for a regular-season game in November 1996.

Jordan was upset that he did not have any applesauce to eat prior to the game, prompting Truman to race through the arena in search of the pregame snack, according to the Tribune.

Truman told the paper that he returned to the Bulls’ locker room with an industrial-sized can of applesauce for Jordan, who said, “You came through,” and later rewarded the ball boy with a postgame autograph.

The Bulls squared off with the Jazz again seven months later in the NBA Finals, with Games 3, 4 and 5 in Salt Lake City. Truman told the Tribune that he brought another large quantity of applesauce to Jordan, who evidently appreciated the gesture.

Despite suffering a stomach illness that nearly forced him to miss the game, Jordan scored 38 points in the pivotal Game 5, rallying the Bulls for a 90-88 victory and a 3-2 series lead. The Bulls clinched their second straight NBA title (their fifth in seven seasons) in Game 6.

Truman told the Tribune that he approached the physically ill Jordan prior to Game 5 and asked if the future Hall of Famer would give him his shoes after the game.

When an equipment manager attempted to pack away the sneakers after the game, Jordan made sure that they instead went to Truman, autographing the shoes while a bodyguard took photos.

Jordans heroics in the flu game have gone down as one of the all time greatest performances in the history of sport, Im gonna hazard a guess and say the ballboy pockets 150k out of this

FAO of @croppy_boy[/USER] @[USER=178]mick jones[/USER] and @[USER=6]briantinnion

Fuck you and your Knickerbockers.

[quote=“myboyblue, post: 871347, member: 180”]FAO of @croppy_boy[/USER] @[USER=178]mick jones[/USER] and @[USER=6]briantinnion

Fuck you and your Knickerbockers.[/quote]

Huh?

:rolleyes: http://www.thefreekick.com/board/index.php?threads/official-list-of-teams-you-support.15625/page-3#post-665881

Ah right.

Playoffs get under way tonight
Brooklyn Nets v Toronto Raptors
Brooklyn tanked at the end of the regular season so they could meet the Raptors here. They’ve otherwise been in great form since the new year and have the players in Pierce, KG, JJ whose proven experience at this level should be too much for Toronto
Nets in 6
Golden State Warriors v LA Clippers
Warriors will be without their defensive lynchpin Andrew Bogut so for all the brilliance of Seth Curry they will still come up short against the new kings of LA basketball.
Clippers in 5
Atlanta Hawks v Indiana Pacers
Pacers have imploded badly at the tail end of the season but still somehow managed to hold on to top seed. There is trouble in the team since Paul George got catfished and Roy Hibbert has gone completely off the boil. If they get it together they should nevertheless be able to brush aside the Hawks without too much fuss.
Pacers in 6
Memphis Grizzlies v Oklahoma Thunder
Grizzlies are the definitive ‘tough team to beat’ type team and OKC will have to put a bit of a sluggish tail end of the season behind them. With Durant in blinding form(guaranteed regular season MVP) and home advantage they have the edge here
Thunder in 6

The playoffs have been brilliant so far with only Miami holding a 100% record, every other matchup could well go to a game 7.

The big story is off the court however as LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling , a known scumbag, was caught making racist comments on tape. He told his (much younger)girlfriend she could sleep with black but didn’t want her bringing them to games, as well as going on to badmouth Magic Johnson. It’s a story that has rocked race sesnsitive America and Obama, Oprah and even Snoop Doggy Dogg have all weighed in. The question is begged, why does a clearly evident racist own an NBA team to begin with with a black head-coach (Legendary Doc Rivers, ex of C’s) and black superstar player, Chris Paul(CP3) and roughly two thirds black players and staff?
There was talk of a players boycott but they will play, Clippers were/are one of only a couple of genuine challengers to Miami’s crown this year, they lead their series against Golden State 2-1, Game 4 is half 8 tonight in San Fransisco.
The story
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/alleged-racist-remarks-from-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-finally-prompt-nba-investigation-174739406.html
Some background on Sterling
http://deadspin.com/5398936/donald-sterling-continues-to-get-away-with-being-the-most-evil-man-in-sports

Sterling handed a lifetime ban by new NBA commissioner Adam Silver. He can be forced to sell the Clippers if over a 3 quarter majority of his fellow franchise owners vote for him to do so. Sterling started off as an ambulance chasing lawyer though so there will likely be plenty of litigation and legal red tape to get through before this one runs it’s course. The fact that his mistress taped the private conversation(a crime in California) that ignited all this, not to mention the small matter of the 1st amendment suggests Sterling could well be around, stinking the place up ,for a while yet.

Meanwhile on the court his Clippers, playing under protest beat Golden State last night to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Nearly 2 weeks into the playoffs and so far only the Heat and Washington(knocked out Bulls last night) have made it through to the Conference semi finals. 2 of the favourites are on the brink at 3-2 down, OKC losing to Memphis and Indiana Pacers to Atlanta. The sudden nosedive of the Pacers from no 1 seed and Championship 2nd favs to being knocked out in the 1st round is the swiftest and maybe most epic implosion I have ever witness in any sport.

Silver will make a bomb out of selling anyway if it comes to pass so I doubt he gives a fuck. I see Malcolm in the Middle is going to but them, fucking hell there’s no way he could have made that coin from that show surely. It’s made a shit of the Clippers you’d feel anyway for these play offs.

This Sterling guy is some card:D

Good to see OKC struggling, hopefully they get knocked out.

Sterling you mean. Is that Malcolm in Middle gut black? A lot of pressure now on this franchise to go into African American hands. Could well end up in the hands of Magic Johnson himself.

[QUOTE=“Sandymount Red, post: 939187, member: 1074”]This Sterling guy is some card:D

Good to see OKC struggling, hopefully they get knocked out.[/QUOTE]
I see you take after your hero Richard Sherman with regards to good grace or class

[QUOTE=“Lazarus, post: 939195, member: 286”]

I see you take after your hero Richard Sherman with regards to good grace or class[/QUOTE]

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSK4GadC_6eGXxc0BMV6yP5gEGCt49BfFLP_y0y1DWKgOE5Xl4a0g

[MEDIA=vine]MrqHJlxhaUD[/MEDIA]

[QUOTE=“Lazarus, post: 939195, member: 286”]Sterling you mean. Is that Malcolm in Middle gut black? A lot of pressure now on this franchise to go into African American hands. Could well end up in the hands of Magic Johnson himself.

[/QUOTE]
Ooops, yea, Sterling. Quite a mess for Silver to walk into so early in his tenure. Funny how the NBA ignored this for so long, apparently he didnt hide it much over his years, he was a slumlord who hated blacks. I guess you can’t piss off Magic Johnson eh?

The kid with the big guts :clap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nO9zngZybk

[QUOTE=“myboyblue, post: 939932, member: 180”]The kid with the big guts :clap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nO9zngZybk
[/QUOTE]
Lilard:clap::clap: Only in his 2nd year as a pro. He’s the natural born successor in the mould of MJ/Kobe, more so than Lebron or KD who lack the real killer instinct . He’s already signed some multi-zillion deal with Adidas, he is the next big thing. With LaMarcus Aldridge playing the best basketball of his career alongside him, Portland have become a right dark horse in this years quest for the Championship. They’ve announced themselves as a serious force although might be a vulnerable still in Defence.

OKC and Indiana got the job done in their respective Game 7’s tonight. Clippers should do the same at home v Golden State, although the Warriors lead 32-22 after the 1st quarter. A record 5 series(of 8, Lilards miracle buzzer beater denied us 6) went to Game 7 tomorrow its San Antonio v Dallas and Brooklyn v Toronto. I expect those games to be tighter than todays but the home teams should still prevail.

Meanwhile Lebron and hid Mimi Heat have been sitting pretty for over a week after their 4-0 sweep of Charlotte.

Clippers finish strongest down the stretch to beat the amazing Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors 126 to 121. Great stuff from them after everything they had to endure with their very own owner doing his best to derail them. Doc Rivers is going mental with joy, lovely:clap:

Doc Rivers is a stone cold alright sort.

The Conference semi’s don’t look like having the same bite as the 1st round. Miami and San Antonio who are currently trouncing Portland look like winning their respective series handy and Indiana should be too strong for Washington now that Roy Hibbert seems to have rediscovered his form.
The exception is OKC and Clippers who are currently all square and will probably go to a Game 7. Whoever wins that will be in with a serious shout of going all the way

Miami have just finished with a 13-3 run to win Game 5 knocking the Brooklyn Nets out in the process. It was Ray Allen who made the big plays for the Heat down the stretch thus probably ending the careers of both his old brothers in arms at Boston, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Future reunions of their Championship winning side are likely to be fairly awkward as fuck, there’s little love loss since Allen took the soup and signed for Miami(acquiring another ring in the process in fairness to him)

The conference Finals should be Heat v Pacers and Spurs v OKC/Clippers. that last one is too close to call. Thunder took a 3-2 lead last night in Game 5 but Doc Rivers was apoplectic after, saying they were ‘robbed’. They pretty much were robbed too, the officiating in that game makes your average GAA ref look like crusaders of justice, it was shocking, but the Clippers blowing a 7 point lead with 40 seconds to play was their own doing too, as much as it was the little guys with the big whistles. Rivers packed some good stuff into his interview ‘That’s a bunch of crap’, ‘I was pissed’:smiley: Big fine coming his way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PRWLsphUcQ