Lebron James Nike Commercial 2010

It doesn't take much for Lebron James to receive criticism these days. His new Nike commercial will definitely generate buzz. It is a little surprising that he did a commercial like this, considering his image is tarnished in most peoples eyes. When your the villain, you don't have to worry as much about what people will say or think, so Lebron is free to be himself. I love the concept of the commercial and believe he is reminding us all, he is still in control.

NBA Preview

With the NBA kicking off next week, it is time for my 2010-11 NBA season preview. I can't think of another season that has been as anticipated as this year. Obviously, there has been a major shift in power from the West to the East. Just to name a few names...Carlos Boozer left Utah for Chicago, the Celtics added Shaq O'Neil, Delonte West and Jermaine O'Neil, Amare Stoudamire left Phoenix for the big apple,and the Miami Heat acquired Chris Bosh and Lebron James. We are coming off a summer that paid Joe Johnson over 120 million dollars over 6 years, Hakeem Warrick 18 million dollars over four years, Channing Frye 30 million dollars over five years,Rudy Gay roughly 82 million dollars over five years and Darko Milicic 20 millions dollars...so you get the point. For the last two years we have been hearing about a possible lockout season in 2011 and how crappy teams finances are but GM's had no problem dishing out these contracts. Funny how that works...

Anyway, without seeing a game yet, I'm going to assume we are about to witness some of the best basketball since Michael Jordan was with the Bulls. Without further ado, here are my season predictions...

MVP: Lebron James

A lot of people are assuming Kevin Durant is ready to take the NBA MVP crown. I would like to give everyone a reality check. Lebron James is the best basketball player on the planet. Please do not confuse that with the best winner on the planet. In terms of statistics on a night in and night out basis, there is no better player in the world. Kevin Durant is a great player and a rare talent but he does not have the all-around game that Lebron James has. Lebron will have better stats and a better record.

Defensive Player of the year: Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard will own the defensive player of the year award until he gets injured or old. He consistently is in the top of the rankings in rebounds and blocks. He is also a big name so he will always get the nod over players like Gerald Wallace and Josh Smith. The only hope is if one year Rajon Rondo steals it from him. If Howard could ever get his offensive game together, he would be a serious contender for the MVP award.

Rookie of the year: John Wall

This was a tough one. I love John Wall as a point guard and I also love his former teammate DeMarcus Cousins has a dominant big man. It should also be mentioned that Blake Griffin is entering his rookie season. The three of them will dominate the rookie of the year race but Wall will come out on top for two reasons. He plays point guard, which is the NBA's most popular position to date and he also plays on a team where he was handed the keys to the city. DeMarcus Cousins is a great talent but he will share minutes with the full front court the Kings have. Blake Griffin will dominate at the power forward position but he is surrounded by Chris Kaman, Baron Davis and Eric Gordon(had a breakout summer with USA team). John Wall will play with an uninterested Gilbert Arenas and a decent supporting cast of guys who wouldn't start on more than half of the teams in the NBA. Not to mention he is the point guard so he runs the show.

Most Improved Player: Michael Beasley

Call me biased but I think Michael Beasley will have a breakout season. All the pressure he has had is officially off his shoulders. When the Heat traded him, he was written off as a top young NBA talent. He was shipped to a confused franchise with no leader or franchise player. If anything, he will flourish just because there will be more shots available and he doesn't have to worry about Dwyane Wade giving him disgusted faces after every mistake.

Now for my NBA team rankings by conference. By no means is this how I think the playoff picture will turn out but it is how I rank the best teams in each conference. As we know from last year, the Celtics were the best team in the East but they did not play that way during the regular season. So keep that in mind...

Eastern Conference

1.Miami Heat
2.Boston Celtics
3.Chicago Bulls
4.Orlando Magic
5.Atlanta Hawks
6.Milwaukee Bucks
7.New York Knicks
8.New Jersey Nets
9.Charlotte Bobcats
10.Washington Wizards
11.Indiana Pacers
12.Philadelphia 76ers
13.Cleveland Cavaliers
14.Detroit Pistons
15.Toronto Raptors

Western Conference

1.LA Lakers
2.Oklahoma City Thunder
3.Utah Jazz
4.San Antonio Spurs
5.Portland Trailblazers
6.Dallas Mavericks
7.Houston Rockets
8.Memphis Grizzlies
9.LA Clippers
10.Phoenix Suns
11.Sacramento Kings
12.New Orleans Hornets
13.Denver Nuggets
14.Minnesota Timberwolves
15.Golden State Warriors

There you have it. Only time will tell what really happens.

This is how you become famous over night

Hit of the year

Austin Rivers

High school basketball star Austin Rivers recently signed with Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils. Rivers' name may be familiar to you because he is the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. Rivers is currently the number one ranked player in the class of 2011 by ESPN. He has plenty of highlight videos on youtube but if you haven't seen any, this one will make you an immediate fan:

G.O.A.T

If your a fan of sports video games I'm sure you know NBA 2k11 hit the shelves yesterday, October 5th. There has been a lot of early hype about this game, so of course I reserved my copy and purchased it yesterday. I'm here to tell everyone to believe the hype. The game is awesome and easily the best sports game I have ever played (I've been playing sports games for over 10 years). This was not just an updated version of last years game with a few gimmicky features added like in most games. This is truly a brand new version of the 2k series with all the things fans loved in the previous versions plus more to love. If your a fan of basketball you will love the game. This is as close to real as a sporting game gets to date. If your more of an arcade style kind of person, don't buy this. This is not your type of game, trust me. I have found myself getting mad because little tricks I used to do in the past don't work anymore (like passing through two defenders to my man standing under the basket). Then I come to my senses and remember that wouldn't happen in real life. I'm not going to talk about the game anymore because no words I say can do it justice. Just go buy it!


And if your still not sold, I forgot to mention Michael Jordan is in the game...Enough said

I'm Back!!!

After a brief absence from the blogging world, I have returned with more personal insight on the sports world. Check back frequently because I will be posting new material several times a week.