Today’s blog, for the second day in a row, includes Raymond Felton commenting on the Nets. The Brooklyn-New York rivalry hasn’t fully kicked off yet, but it seems like some people might want it to – which could be good or bad for basketball. I’m not going to get into that here, though.
What I will get into is how unusual an intra-city rivalry would be in today’s pro sports. The NCAA has Duke-UNC and Alabama-Auburn, among plenty of others, and the divisions soccer creates in European cities are legendary, but in the Big Four, the biggest rivalries are mainly based on strength, whether it be current, like the Heat-Celtics battles of the last several years, or historic, like Red Sox-Yankees and Maple Leafs-Canadiens. There are teams that share cities, but for whatever reason that never seems to lead to the fierce rivalries we see in soccer and college sports. In baseball, the Mets, Cubs, and Dodgers don’t play the Yankees, White Sox, and Angels, and in basketball the Clippers, until recently, haven’t been any good. Now it seems like both the Nets and Knicks could be very good, which means we could be in for a really fun fight for New York – or a media vacuum that leaves the other 28 teams out in the cold.
With that to think about, let’s get to the latest news from the NBA world:
Paul Pierce says that even with him and Kevin Garnett in Brooklyn, his old team should be in good hands, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe: “Pierce also said he has discussed the future of the Celtics with Rajon Rondo, who is coming off surgery to repair a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. Trade rumors have surrounded Rondo with the Big Three broken up, and so have perceptions that he won’t cooperate with new coach Brad Stevens, only nine years Rondo’s senior. Rondo has indicated that he will fully support Stevens, and the two spent time together at Rondo’s basketball camp in Louisville, Ky. Pierce said he relayed some strong messages about how Rondo should conduct himself as team leader. “Without question [he can be the man in Boston],” Pierce said. “I’ve already talked to Rajon; Rajon’s mature. People talk about the relationship with Doc [Rivers], and they probably had their best years over the last two years. So I don’t think that was a reason for Doc leaving. I’ve heard that, but that wasn’t a reason for Doc not coming back. Rondo is one of the best players in the league. He’s a guy who can be the face of a franchise. He’s won a championship, he’s been an All-Star. There’s a lot of organizations who don’t even have a face of that caliber. I definitely think he’s matured and can handle a lot. I talked to him and he’s ready for the challenge. He knows that it’s his team. He knows he has to be a leader, and from being around me and Kevin [Garnett] and seeing how we work.” “
NBA source familiar with #celtics say team desperately needs another asst coach who can bond with Rondo, someone he can relate to and trust
— gary washburn (@GwashNBAGlobe) August 18, 2013
Source confirms Celtics want ex- player to round out coaching staff, says James Posey & Walter McCarty are top candidates.
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) August 18, 2013
Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times has a fascinating interview with Mike D’Antoni that is totally worth reading in its entirety. Here’s an excerpt: “No, the specter of Phil Jackson never quite left the Lakers. “I think anybody that comes in here the next 10, 15 years, it’s going to be that way,” D’Antoni said. “I don’t think there is any doubt that he was so good and so large and he’s still sitting out there. Had that bothered me, I shouldn’t have taken the job because you know it’s going to be there. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that, ‘Oh, they won’t remember him.’ Sure they will. It doesn’t really affect what we do day-to-day and how we approach the game.” D’Antoni, 62, has two more guaranteed years on his contract after going 40-32 last season and then getting swept in the playoffs by San Antonio as his players crumbled physically. Kobe Bryant’s season ended in mid-April, Steve Nash’s season never seemed to get underway and even the loss of Steve Blake was mourned in the playoffs (strained hamstring). Lakers fans didn’t want injury excuses. Nor could they ever blame their on-court heroes. So they sharpened their tongues and went after D’Antoni. “I’m sure it’s out there. If you don’t win, it’s there,” he said. “If you’re coaching in Fort Wayne, it’s going to be the same thing. I think the Lakers are a special case because they’re the No. 1 team that’s on ESPN. You just do the best job you can do and go on. If you get caught up in what they’re saying, you can’t do your job.” “
Raymond Felton chuckled when asked about Paul Pierce saying BK will run city. “They’ll never run the city, we have New York on our chests.”
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) August 18, 2013
Nolan Smith is headed to Croatia to play for Cedevita Zagreb, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Ben McLemore got passed over by six teams in the NBA draft after starting draft season as a possible #1 pick, and as Gary Bedore of KUSports.com writes, he’s not happy about that: “Ben McLemore, who had hoped to be selected first or second, but slipped to seventh overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, carries some added motivation into his first pro season. “I feel I come in with a chip on my shoulder,” former Kansas University guard McLemore, top pick of the Sacramento Kings in the June draft, said Saturday at the Bill Self Basketball Pro Camp for youths in Allen Fieldhouse. He is working the camp with former KU forward Thomas Robinson of the Portland Trail Blazers. “I feel I’ve been through a lot. I feel I am going to work hard to get Rookie of the Year. I know the mindset I’m going to come in and show everybody I could be the alpha dog and win that Rookie of the Year. I’m definitely going to work hard to get that,” McLemore added.”
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Dan Malone is about to begin his fourth year as a journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and spent this summer as a features intern at the Cape Cod Times. He blogs, edits and learns things on the fly for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on Twitter.