Last night, I watched the Miami Heat host the San Antonio Spurs, I think. I mean, the Spurs did not quite look like the Spurs. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, nor Tony Parker suited up for the game. If you are wondering if the players were suspended, the answer is no. Their coach, Gregg Popovich, made a strategic decision to rest his players. David Stern, NBA Commissioner, did not appreciate this move. I honestly see both sides of the argument, but I ultimately side with Coach Popovich.
One constant in the world we live in today is the concept of rules. To my knowledge,the NBA does not have a rule stating its coaches jurisdiction for handling personnel matters i.e., when to "rest" players not due to injury. Let's be honest, if the perviously mentioned players were injured, we would not be having this conversation today. Adam Silver, NBA Deputy Commissioner, recently stated that personnel decisions are within the discretion of NBA coaches. That said, there are not any rules specifically governing this practice.
Gregg Popovich let it be known that he would be resting his "core" group of players for the 11/29/12 meeting with the Heat. He noted that his team was in the midst of a long road trip and that his players needed the rest. Not only did he plan to not play these players, he actually sent them home on a private flight.
That was not the first occassion that Popovich rested certain players. He admittedly coaches an older team, with many of his best players being at least 30 years old. Since there is not a rule prohibiting this practice and he has done it in the past, without sanction, I do not see how a suspension or sanction would be proper under the circumstances.
On the other hand, I certainly understand David Stern's position. As the Commissioner, he is responsible for making sure the fans are pleased with the product produced by the NBA. If I was a Floridian who bought tickets to see my favorite player (let's say Tim Duncan) and he did not play because he was "tired" I would be highly upset. Maybe I would want a refund of my money. Who knows? Either way, it is safe to say that many people were upset by this move. Don't get me wrong, I believe many teams sit players because they are "tired," but at least they blame it on the health of the player. I think Popovich was a little too comfortable with his control over his team. That said, Stern believes he has to punish Popovich. It seems to me that he wants to align himself with the fans and make sure they remain happy, ticket purchasing people. I think Stern has a legitimate argument.
However, absent a rule to the contrary, Gregg Popovich appears to have been within his power to rest his players.
Peace
Not a bust, but definitely not a star. Lin will have a career much like Howard Eisley. Solid player but no star.
Lin-sanity was a great story for the NBA last year. Jeremy Lin's meteoric rise was timely considering that the NBA had recently emerged from an ugly lockout that robbed fans of over 30 regular season games. I am not a conspiracy theorist at all, but it is "funny" how certain things happen at certain times in the NBA. When the Knicks needed a savior in the mid 1980's, they magically received the top pick and drafted Patrick Ewing. When Cleveland needed to draft the best player, who happened to be from Ohio, they magically won the lottery. Of course they drafted Lebron James and the rest is history. I am not saying occurrences in the NBA are pre ordained by the basketball gods, but certain things happen at perfect times. I digress.
Jeremy Lin did not emerge from the dark. He was released by a few teams before playing in New York. He was given the opportunity to compete for a spot in Golden State and Houston, but he came up short. Now, when he was provided an opportunity to shine in New York, he did. He posted great numbers during a very small sample size of games (25 I believe). He did much of his work while Carmelo and Amare were out of the lineup. He was given the keys to the team and provided the freedom to take almost any shot. Most NBA players when given that kind of freedom would be capable of posting solid or all star numbers for a limited amount of time. The truly elite players, however, are able to put up outstanding numbers despite game plans designed to stifle them.
Jeremy Lin is now a member of the Houston Rockets. He leveraged his moment in the sun with the Knicks into a 25 million dollar contract with the Rockets. That is what a Harvard educated person is supposed to do. In the words of Jay-Z, "I can't knock the hustle . . ." But, as for any notion of him being a super star, or an all star, that should be squashed. He is a very average player. This guy is averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in about 34 minutes per game. If that is not "average" enough for you, he is also shooting a putrid 34% from the field, and 24% from behind the 3 point line. Meanwhile, his replacement at the point guard position, Raymond Felton, is having a very good year. And, he is getting paid a fraction of the salary. I'd say the Knicks got the better of the deal.
Peace
Thanksgiving 2012 was one of the best holidays of my life. I caught up with family members and old friends. I also ate myself into a food coma on Thursday. I had turkey, broccoli and cheese, macaroni and cheese, pinto beans, rolls, sweet potato pie, rice, gravy, and chicken. Great food.
During my meal on Thursday, I could not help but think about how thankful I am for what I have. There are so many people who do not have food, or a warm place to enjoy family and friends. I like to reflect often, but Thanksgiving makes me appreciate every aspect of my life just a little more. Interestingly enough, that even includes things that can be annoying.
I visited my old middle school while I was home as well. Cook Middle School is the place where I learned many life lessons and made lifelong friends. It truly is a special place, despite the fact that it was often referred to as the Eastside High of Winston-Salem. I learned to love the game of basketball, and the importance of loyalty. I am grateful for the many lessons learned at Cook. While visiting Cook Thursday morning, I ventured down the street to Paisley Middle School for the annual Turkey Bowl football game between my alma mater, Mount Tabor, and East Forsyth. Mount Tabor lost by one point, but it was good seeing so many old faces.
When I return to Winston-Salem in December, I will be participating in an alumni basketball game against RJ Reynolds high school. That said, I know how important it is to keep myself in playing shape. I played basketball at the Central YMCA on Friday morning at 5:00 a.m. and again on Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. When my friend told me about the game on Friday morning, I really thought he meant 500 p.m. Boy was I wrong. Either way, there was no shortage of talent in the gym both days. I will be ready for the game against RJ Reynolds on December 22, 2012. If you are in town, the game will be played at the old Carver high school gymnasium at 3:00 p.m.
It is funny how a trip to a special place can rejuvenate your mind, body and soul. That is definitely how I feel after returning from my parents' home.
Peace
Fabolous is one of my favorites emcees. He rarely, if ever, disappoints when he releases a mix tape. His Thanksgiving release of Soul Tape 2 did not disappoint. After listening to it 3 times, I can confidently say that it may be his most complete mixtape to date. I think it has the perfect number of songs, 12. If you have followed Fab's career, you know his word play, and punchlines are on point. Check it out if you have not heard it yet.
"Only Life I Know" featuring Troy Ave is one of my favorite tracks. The song is an ode to "the game," which can be applied to any career. However, Fab discusses the life of hustlers and how they are addicted to the game. It incorporates snippets from the movie Heat and Paid In Full. Mitch from Paid in Full said "I love the game, I love to hustle, I be feeling like one of those ball player ni**as ya know, Bird, Magic or something, you know a ni**a got dough, he can lead the league, but if I leave, the fans still gonna love me man?" That line sums up the game for many hustlers. My favorite verse from the song is: "They say a woman cancels dates cause she has to, and a man cancels dates cause he has two, well I got two dates, one with destiny, I need more baby, don't think less of me . . . "
"Louis Vuitton" featuring J. Cole is another one of my favorites songs. This song is about the mentality of a gold digger. One of my favorites lines from the song is: You know the ones that will order the lobster, go for the champaigne, don't care what you do, but you better do a damn thing if you wanna win the campaign, cause her company just ain't cheap . . . "
"For the Love" is another one of my favorite songs. "These squares can never stop me, you'll try angles to play me, two lines for your fu** boys,pause that now play me, right from where I left off, lets get back to that real ish,that sit back just chill ish, whip packs of that kill ish, I chit chat about trill ish, speak that how I feel ish, I give you four bars it will be a kit kat of some real ish . . . "
Fab delivers on this album. Check it out.
Peace
This NBA season has provided some early surprises.
- The Charlotte Bobcats have actually won some games. With a new, inexperienced coach, I assumed they would be terrible as usual. They currently have a respectable record at 5-4. It is still early, and they are still the Bobcats, but we shall see.
- The Lakers started off very slowly. They fired their head coach after 5 games and they hired D'antoni over Phil Jackson. And, they made Phil believe he had the job before they hired a man who has never made it to the NBA Finals. For the record, Phil has 11 NBA Championship rings. Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense (insert sarcasm).
- The Brooklyn Nets are gelling much faster than I imagined. They appear to be a top 4 team in the Eastern Conference already. I am interested in seeing if they can keep up their early success.
- The Los Angeles Clippers look like an NBA Championship ready team. Blake Griffin is settling into his role. I really don't think he is as skilled as some people previouly thought. Deandre Jordan is slowing, but surely, developing an offensive game. Chris Paul is, well, Chris Paul. Jamal Crawford is playing out of his mind. Their bench mob is clicking on all cylinders and that group will only improve once Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill come back.
- The Memphis Grizzlies look great as well. When many teams are going to "small ball" philosophy, they are sticking to their same model. Rudy Gay is healthy and he and Kevin Durant really battled a few weeks ago. Zach Randolph is healthy and is back to his old ways. They are an elite team in the west, but their weak bench is something to monitor.
- The New York Knicks have the best record in the NBA. The New York Knicks have the best record in the NBA. It is hard to believe and I keep waiting on them to revert back to selfish basketball. So far, it has not happened. They thoroughly outplayed the Miami Heat. Carmelo is playing well and so is the erratic, but talented J.R. Smith. It will be very interesting to see how this group does when Amare Stoudemire returns.
- Injuries have riddled many teams' chances of success. Andrew Bynum looks like he is headed down a career path like Greg Oden. Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio are both out with injuries. Amare Stoudemire is out and his team is flourishing in his absence. Go figure. Steve Nash is hurt and has only played 1 or 2 games.
Peace
This past weekend, I saw "Flight" starring Denzel Washington as an alcoholic pilot. I thought the movie would be good, but it exceeded my expectations. Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, John Goodman and a host of other great actors star in the movie. Denzel played Whip Whitaker, an alcoholic pilot. Don Cheadle played Hugh Lang, Whip's attorney. John Goodman played Harling Mays, Whip's drug dealer and good friend. As an aside, Don Cheadle is one of the most gifted actors in Hollywood. But, he does not receive the acclaim that he should for his great talents.
The movie has a compelling story line. It covers heavy topics including alcoholsim, drug dependency, denial, and absent parents. Denzel's role as Whip Whitaker is one of the darker roles I have seen him play. Whip was a gifted, but troubled, alcoholic and somehat drug dependant airplane pilot. He piloted a flight that was doomed from the start due to mechanical error. Becuase of his skill, however, 96 of the 102 passengers survived the crash. But, of course, an investigation into the cause of crash ensued.
The head investigator discovered that Whip had traces of drugs and alcohol in his blood stream at the time of the accident. That finding set the stage for multiple battles. There was the internal battle Whip had with himself. Was he going to admit that he had been drinking and ingesting drugs? Would he finally admit that he was an alcoholic who needed help? There were also legal questions that needed to be answered and battles that needed to be fought. Any time there is a crash of an airplane, people want to point the proverbial finger at somebody. The insurance companies want to limit or eliminate exposure. The plane manufacturer wants to blame the pilot for improper handling of the aircraft, which would absolve it of liability. The airplane company wants to blame the crash on faulty parts and point the finger at the manufacturer. The families of the victims want answers and could bring actions both civilly and criminally against a host of parties. You will have to watch the movie to see how it all plays out.
"Flight" is definitely one of the best movies I have seen all year. I would not be at all surprised if Denzel wins, or at least, receives an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Check it out.
Peace
Once a month, I attend a presentation on emerging legal issues in North Carolina. Yesterday, the discussion was on a very sensiive topic, human trafficking. The presenter asked the group what comes to our minds when "trafficking" is mentioned. I thought about human trafficking as seen in the movie "Taken." I never thought about labor trafficking. I will share a little bit about what I learned from the presentation.
Prior to 2000, there were no federal laws in place to combat trafficking. In 2000, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act("TVPA") became the law. It provides legal remedies to the victims of these crimes. That said, it is not a perfect system and many victims are still unable to escape their situations. Trafficking is very lucrative and is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world behind drug trafficking. It is a serious problem and many people are unaware becuase it is not heavily covered by the media.
We discussed some of the common misconceptions regarding trafficking. The victims of the crime may be male or female, minor or adult. Movement from one border, be it state, or international, is not necessary for the crime to occur. Physical force is not necessary either. In other words, a victim does not have to have a gun placed to his head in order for the crime to occur. Essentially, if a person has a reasonable,subjective belief that they are not free to leave,trafficking may have occurred.
Trafficking occurs in a myriad of ways. One common method of trafficking involves forced labor. In a typical case, an undocumented immigrant works for someone who exercises control over them. The control may be exercised through indebtedness, addiction to drugs, or physical control. Another method used by traffickers is exercise of control over the undocumented workers' passports. Many of these workers are afraid to turn to the police department becuase they think they will be deported because of their undocumented status. Fortunately, there are specific Visas available to victims of trafficking crimes and they will not necessarily be deported so long as they cooperate with law enforcement against those who victimized them.
When the presenter discussed the specific cities in North Carolina that the crime occurs, I was really surprised. I had always believed that these types of crimes were occurring in large, metropolitan cities. I was definitely uninformed with that belief becuase this crime is happening in cities and towns all across North Carolina. In fact, 25% of all trafficking in the United States, both sex and labor, occurs in the Southeast United States.
What makes North Caorlina ripe for this kind of criminal activity? North Carolina is still very much an agricultural state and that often means that there are large populations of migrant workers. Many of these workers may be undocumented, which presents a quandry for them. If they are victimized, they may be afraid that they will be deported, so they never report the crime. If they do not report the crime, they are victimized over, and over again. Also, the climate is very mild, which makes it attractive to traffickers. And, probably the biggest draw to North Carolina, is its access to major highways. North Carolina has access to Interstates 95, 85 and 40. You can ride I-40 from North Carolina to California and I-95 to New York or Florida.
These crimes are happening all around us. Be safe and be aware.
Peace
