HOOPLOG: LeBron James

Kobe For MVP

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:43:58 -0800

Kobe Bryant is our MVP. And LeBron's too.

"I’d give it to Kobe. What he’s done this whole year, to carry that team to the No. 1 team in the West right now. He’s playing his best basketball all around. I’ve watched him the whole year. I saw it last summer when I played with him with USA Basketball and the sacrifices he’s made for the team and he’s done that with the Lakers."

—LeBron James

Kobe4MVP.com

2007 NBA Season At An End

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:02:45 -0800

The San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in what had to be one of the least watched NBA Finals in many years. Watching the Lebron-led Cavs break against the solid as a rock Spurs left everyone here at Hooplog looking forward to the off-season, as the Eastern Conference has a lot of work to ahead to match the likes of the Western powerhouses, Spurs, Suns, and Mavericks. With Kobe possibly on his way out in L.A., maybe he could help revitalize an Eastern Conference team.

2007 NBA Season At An End

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:02:45 -0800

We Are All Witnesses

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:27:03 -0800

Nike has a new promotion for Lebron over at nikebasketball.com. Capitalizing on the Cavs first entry into the NBA Finals, Lebron will face his toughest challenge of the year, trying to rally his Cavs against a proven champion caliber team.

Team USA Concludes Exhibition Tour With 116-63 Win Over Korea

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:01:55 -0800

Team USA completed a 5-0 exhibition tour by defeating host Korea 116-63. LeBron James led the U.S. in scoring with 23 points and added six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Dwayne Wade (16), Elton Brand (16) and Carmelo Anthony (13) also scored in double figures. Anthony led the U.S. in scoring overall during the five games, averaging 16.8 ppg. James (15.8) and Wade (12.2) were the only other U.S. players to average more than 10 ppg, but Antawn Jamison and Joe Johnson came very close (9.6 ppg each).

This win does not tell us a lot about Team USA. As Coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterward, "Obviously we knew we were going to win. The talent differential was in our favor by far." It will be interesting to see how this team responds when faced with tougher opposition. Also, as Bill Walton pointed out during the ESPN broadcast, teams have not been playing much zone defense against Team USA during the exhibition tour. Will the U.S. be able to execute offensively against zone defenses during the World Championships?

During my appearance today on BetUs.ComRadio, host Matthew Ross asked me if five exhibition games were too much for the U.S. I told him that, if anything, it might be too few. Keep in mind that the other countries in the World Championships have national teams that have played together for years under FIBA rules, while the U.S. team consists of players who have not played together (except for All-Star Games). It takes time for a team to jell and even more time to adjust to the different FIBA rules (shorter three point line, one less foul before disqualification, liberalized goal tending, trapezoid lane, etc.). I like the new U.S. approach of insisting on three year commitments from each player and I am confident that this will eventually result in gold medals for the U.S. in international play. Team USA's recent results in the Olympics and World Championships prove that winning these events will not be a cakewalk.

The only bad news so far for Team USA is that neither Amare Stoudemire not Gilbert Arenas will be healthy enough to play in the World Championships. Stoudemire returned home to continue rehabilitating his knee, while Arenas suffered a groin injury during practice on Monday. Coach Krzyzewski still must make one cut to get the roster down to 12 players before the World Championships begin. There are a total of 24 players on the Team USA roster for the 2006-08 period, but only 12 of them may be activated for a given event. This time around, injuries and prior commitments have eliminated several players from consideration.

Ben Wallace NBA Defensive Player of Year (AP)

Sun, 07 May 2006 12:05:32 -0800

Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award Monday for the fourth time in five years for his ability to guard Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James. Wallace, a muscular 6-foot-9, 240-pounder, is one of only two players in league history to win the award four times.

One Liners

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:14:05 -0800

- Kobe Bryant is absolutely, hands-down the greatest basketball player on the planet.

- Flash Gordon's curveball is making a lot of Phillies fans forget about Billy Wagner.

- If Peter Forsberg is truly "The Best Player in the World" then he alone should have willed his Flyers over a Sabres teams whose most recognizable player is Chris Drury.

- How incredible would it be to see Kobe's Lakers vs. LeBron's Cavs in the NBA Finals?

- It's pretty clear at this point that A.J. Soprano will never be another Michael Corleone.

- The Rangers, Flyers, and Red Wings sent a ton of players to Torino and maybe it's not a coincidence those players are now on the golf course.

- Barry Bonds comes to Philadelphia this weekend and I hope to God that the Philly fans there don't embarrass the rest of us too badly.

- The 2006 NFL will go down as the best draft ever for the Eagles, beating out 2002's when they drafted Lito Shepperd, Brian Westbrook, Sheldon Brown and Michael Lewis.

- If Allen Iverson does get traded this offseason, the deal better not include Ricky Davis as the other centerpiece as was the case in a rumor I read this week.

- If you haven't already heard of Cole Hamels, you will by the All-Star break.

- Finals week during the Spring Semester is probably the longest week of the year.

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LeBron, It Turns Out, Is Rather Skilled

Thu, 04 May 2006 09:34:35 -0800

Well, perhaps this is one of those games they will end up remembering.

LeBron James’ twisting, physics-defying, insane that-couldn’t-really-have-been-that-easy layup last night as time expired gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead in the series and officially notched LeBron’s first official Gatorade highlight reel in the year 2018 moment.

We’re not particularly adept at NBA-as-poetry, so we’ll leave it to the experts in the field, Free Darko:

He’s so next at this point that it might end up being some shit that, for anyone else, would be a wildly contingent move of a lifetime. LeBron, though, has mastered basketball fate itself, like if Posieden cared for whitewater rafting. Or the inverse of an improvisation that seems like it must’ve been written.

By the way, our sympathies to Wizards fans, particularly the folks at Wizznutzz, who not only had to deal with a crushing loss, but the indignity of the misunderstood. Anyone who has any question about the intelligence of those guys, we cannot possibly recommend more that you head to the site and get yourself educated.

Strength Begat Mind [Free Darko]
Oh, LeBron [True Hoop]

Cavaliers Get 50th Win

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 09:45:53 -0800

Playing without Lebron James and Larry Hughes the Cleveland Cavaliers got there 50th win with a 100-99 win at home over the Atlanta Hawks. Flip Murray led the Cavaliers with 19 points who reached the 50th win plateau for only the fourth time in franchise history. The Cavaliers almost didn’t get there 50th win as [...]

Cavaliers Celebration Starts With Playoff Spot

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 09:45:20 -0800

In the BEACON JOURNAL, Terry Pluto writes that "Cavaliers fans, the playoffs are a reason to celebrate. Especially how the team made the playoffs, how the Cavs finished with the fourth-best record in their history.Then there's the homecourt advantage in the first round, and a general good feeling that this team not only belongs in the postseason -- but could win a series. They've done it with a 21-year-old (LeBron James) who should be the league's MVP this season. It has been seven years since they made the playoffs -- only the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors have been out longer."

Cavs owner expects to re-sign LeBron?

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:17:14 -0800

Owner Dan Gilbert believes that the Cavs have an excellent chance of re-signing LeBron James to a long-term contract.``I feel pretty good about him signing,'' Gilbert said. ``I'd say it's more than 90 percent. You never say 100 percent until...

Mailbag: LeBron better than expected

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 16:46:58 -0800

In his latest mailbag, Charley Rosen admits to being a bit off on his initial assessment of LeBron James' pro potential. He also discusses NBA rules he'd change, his definition of "most valuable" and whether Bernard King should be in the Hall of Fame.

James could play less with fourth spot clinched

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:40:34 -0800

With the Cleveland Cavaliers locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James could find himself on the bench a little more often. "He's been playing a lot of heavy minutes so I'm going to back off his minutes a little bit," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said before Monday night's game against the Hornets. James ranks second in the NBA, behind only Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, with 42.9 minutes per game. With a scoring average of 31.

UPDATE: Air Jordan Invitational Semis

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 14:45:07 -0800

It's crunch time in the semifinals of the 2006 SBNation Air Jordan Memorial!

In case you forgot or choose not to scroll down, here's the bracket:

Right now at Blazers Edge, Vince Carter's Nike ode to dunking is handily beating Kevin Garnett's pity party adidas ad. You can vote on the matchup by clicking here.

Meanwhile, at Blog-a-Bull, Michael Jordan's tiny friends are whipping the hell out of LeBron's family. Help King James out (though it's not likely much good) by clicking here.

Voting will end sometime this week. When? It's a surprise. That means you should vote now!

Wilcox Named WC Player of the Week

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 14:44:56 -0800

CHRIS WILCOX NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

SEATTLE – The NBA announced today that Sonics forward Chris Wilcox has been named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, April 3 through Sunday, April 9. Wilcox averaged 23.0 points and 15.3 rebounds while shooting 75.0 percent (27-of-36) from the field during the week to help the Sonics extend their winning streak to a season-long four games. The league honor is the first of Wilcox’s career and the first for a Sonics player this season.

Wilcox began the week by posting 26 points and a career-high 24 rebounds in a 104-87 win over Houston on April 4, becoming the first Sonics player to post a 20-point/20-rebound game since Shawn Kemp did so on Nov. 15, 1995. Wilcox’s 24 rebounds were also the most by a Sonics player since Jack Sikma grabbed 25 boards on Feb. 10, 1983. Wilcox also dished out a career-best six assists at Portland last Friday, April 7, and has recorded double-doubles in scoring and rebounding in four consecutive games.

After averaging 4.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 48 games with the Clippers this season, Wilcox has posted 15.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game since joining the Sonics on Feb. 23.

The New York Knicks’ Jamal Crawford was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 26.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.25 steals per game. He hit two game-winning jumpers to lead the Knicks to a 3-1 record during the week. Crawford grew up in Seattle and was a prep basketball star at Rainier Beach High School

Other nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Cleveland’s LeBron James, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, New Jersey’s Jason Kidd, Orlando’s Dwight Howard, Sacramento’s Mike Bibby and Seattle’s Ray Allen.

The Seattle Sonics & Storm organization manages the Puget Sound region’s professional basketball franchises – the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. The organization oversees all sales, marketing, finance, public relations and basketball operations for the teams. The Basketball Club of Seattle LLC owns both teams.