Thank You Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant is currently having one of his worst statistical season of his career, but coming off surgeries on knees and Achilles along with other injuries that comes along with being 19 year NBA veteran, has recently announced he will be retiring following this NBA season making the 2015-16 season his final go around. The 6ft 6in guard will exit the NBA a 5 time NBA champion 17 All-Star games, one time league MVP, three time gold medal winner, and many more accolades.

I have been a basketball fan my entire life starting with Michael Jordan even though I was under 10 the entire time he was in the NBA allowed me to start a love for the game. For me though Kobe was the one to continue that for me. Growing up I was able to watch the Lakers put together some of the greatest teams in NBA history. They also won 2 of his 5 rings while I was really able to appreciate the work that had to be put into to be elite teams in the NBA. I will always be thankful and a fan of Kobe Bryant for keeping basketball fun and interesting to watch because you never knew what he was going to do next. It was also fun to watch the Lakers because they were always on late and gave me a good reason to stay up late and watch basketball instead of going to bed for school.

The story of how the NBA transfers from decade to decade to who is going to carry the stardom to from Magic to MJ to Kobe to Lebron to Curry? The best part is most of these legends crossover times in their career to bring some of the best basketball to the fans hopeful this formula continues for generations to come.

The last thing I find interesting about the Kobe retirement is during his career he has wore two different jersey numbers, 8 and 24 where he was successful wearing either number which stats can be found here. Biggest of those stats is jersey number 8, three NBA championships, Jersey number 24, 2 NBA championships.  This brings up one of the biggest questions when it comes to honoring a player for your team and that is retiring their number, is it 8 or  24. Which brings polls and articles and comments from former teammates and fans. This is a link to a Lakers blog about what a poll they ran ended up.

I would have to agree with them and retire jersey number 24. As I end this blog watch this highlight tape of Kobe and just appreciate his greatness. THANK YOU MR. Bryant

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

Twitter and NBA

Twitter and the NBA

Social Media has changed how NBA players can interact with their fans and even their haters. This has caused some Issues with players, but has also allowed players to create brands and also bonds with fans that before was impossible to reach on this large of a scale. In this blog I will talk about some cool things NBA players, coaches, and reporters are doing with Twitter.

First we have Steph Curry who has embraced Twitter to create a connection and bring his fans along with him. The one thing he does that he started doing before games last year he would tweet before games Lock in! #dubnation. The lock in referring to the game and Dub Nation is what Warrior fans are referred to as. It gets a lot of attention from his fans and others around the league. He also used to show off his daughter during the playoffs last year where she became a star on the internet and here's a link to find out more about that.

Next we have Dirk Nowitzki veteran NBA player has had some fun on Twitter this year. The most comes from a game early November where he gets schooled by the younger Ray McCollum and he tweets this. Dirks Tweet. There is plenty more but this is probably the funniest of them all watch the following video

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23
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NBA Shoe Endorsements

With some of the high profile NBA players like, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Andrew Wiggins, Derrick Rose, and Kobe Bryant to name a few are signing contracts with companies like Nike, adidas, and Under Armour that worth more or just as much as what their NBA teams are paying them each year. Right now the sky's the limit for how large these contracts could get, starting with KD’S most recent 10 year 300 million and the announcement of Lebron's life time deal he just signed with Nike which can be read here. The numbers are always changing with new deals and can be found anywhere but here is a link to a website that talks about some of the numbers if you want to know more about those.

The real reason I’m writing this blog is to talk about some of these shoes and all of the NBA players listed above I have worn their signature shoe to play basketball in with in the past 5 years but since some of the design has changed I will talk about the three that I have worn and played in the past year. I’ll give you my opinions on them.

Lebron James

I was not a big fan of these shoes they are heavy and bulky compared to other shoes that I would wear for playing basketball. The design of all the Lebrons' are cool and always have something a little different year in and out but always have distinct features to the shoe to know they are Lebrons'. These were not my shoes and only borrowed them from a friend a couple times, but all in all they were durable and from what I know he never had issues with this pair ever ripping.

Derrick Rose

I really liked these shoes, I liked the design, feel, look, and performance. These shoes were lightweight and easy to run up and down the court. They were high tops, but due to the goal of being a lightweight basketball shoe I did rule my ankles a lot of times and need to wear an ankle brace which is something I never had to do before. The other down fall was both tongues of the shoes ripped off each shoe and also between the silver strips the cloth ripped in about four spots on each shoe.

Andrew Wiggins

The shoes that I currently have are the Adidas crazy boosts the USA themed shoe which the shoe is the same as what Wiggins wears just the color design is different. These shoes were just released at the end of the summer, so I haven't had them that long. These shoes are the lightest shoe I have ever worn for basketball, but also so far has had a feeling of stability for being a low top shoes. These shoes are great and would recommend them if your looking at buying a basketball shoe or just a casual shoe. I also like getting my shoes right from Adidas.com can usually find the best deals.

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

NBA Christmas Day Basketball

Each Year the NBA schedules some of the best possible match-ups for Christmas Day. In hopes of giving NBA fans the chance to see some of the greatest athletes and teams battle out while we sit at home with our families stuffing our face with food all day. In this blog I will discuss about the five match ups; The players to watch in these games, Which team has the best jersey, and the final outcomes. (The Rankings I will reference to are from Marc Stein on Mon, Dec 7 found here (NBA Week Six Power Rankings))

Pelicans vs. Heat

New Orleans Pelicans @ Miami Heat, 11 am, ESPN

First game of the day will have the 22nd ranked Pelicans taking on the 3rd rank Heat in Miami. The Pelicans with two of the game's great young ones, starting with their point guard Jrue Holiday and the big guy down low Anthony Davis. While the Heat bring in a mix of old and young with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh leading their teams to being the 3rd rank team, but the real player to watch will be the young Hassan Whiteside. The Christmas Day jerseys are always something to be talked about as you can see in the picture above, out of these two jerseys I like the big loopy letters on the front of the Heats jerseys.

Miami 107 - Pelicans 93

Thunder vs. Bulls

Chicago Bulls @ Oklahoma City Thunder, 1:30pm, ABC

The 4th ranked Bulls head into Oklahoma City to face the 5th ranked Thunder. The Bulls have a great team and the most important players in this game will be Jimmy Butler having a heck of a game will lead the bulls to victory along with the Bulls big guys Gibson and Gasol being a large presence in the middle of the lane. For the Thunder Russell Westbrook is going to play well, but the player who will have the best game this day will be Kevin Durant I don't think they will be able to guard him. The Thunder and Bulls jerseys are both going to be really cool, but in my opinion the Bulls jersey wins this match up.

Thunder 106 - Bulls 102

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Golden State Warriors, 4 pm, ABC

Warriors vs. Cavs

The 6th ranked Cavs head to Oakland to take on the number 1 ranked Warriors in a matchup of last years NBA Finals. The Cavaliers will bring in LeBron James and Kevin Love, but one of the biggest ifs for this game will their starting pg Kyrie Irving make it back for his first start since getting hurt in last years NBA finals. The Warriors will set up shop with their deep NBA roster that is off to a 22-0 start best in NBA history with their leader Steph Curry and cast, but this will be Klay Thompson break out game of the year. In this jersey Match up I give it to the Warriors with a cool blue jersey.

Warriors 118 - Cavaliers 111

Spurs vs. Rockets

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets, 7 pm ESPN

The 2nd ranked Spurs head up to Houston to play the 18th ranked Rockets in this Western Conference matchup. The Spurs bring in LaMarcus Aldridge down low and will have Kawhi Leonard stand out and have his best game of the year. The Rockets bring in last years MVP runner up James Harden. The one thing the Rockets will win on Christmas day is the jersey match-up.

 

Spurs 103 - Houston 92

Clippers vs. Lakers

Los Angeles Clippers @ Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30, ESPN

The 17th ranked Clippers will face the 29th ranked Lakers in the night cap for NBA games on Christmas. The Clippers have Chris Paul who will have a great game along with Blake Griffin, both will dominate due to the lack of playing ability for the Lakers this season. The Lakers will bring in Kobe Bryant even though this is his worst ever shooting year as an NBA player, He also announced his retirement at the end of the season and his really the only thing good coming from the Lakers this year and that's talking about the past. I also think the Lakers jerseys beat the Clippers and that will be the silver lining to the night for the Lakers.

Clippers 121 - Lakers 88

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

Jahlil Okafor, Should of Stayed in College?

 This blog is not to argue weather he is ready to play in the NBA, but is Jahlil Okafor ready for the spot light and demands of being a NBA player off the court.

          Do the recent off court issues for 3rd overall pick in this last draft class show another reason why one and done college athletes are not prepared for the NBA spotlight? I think grouping all young NBA players into the same category is not fair, but in Okafor's case if he stays in college two or three more years and plays under the great Coach K. wouldn’t you think he would learn and mature from making these mistakes.
One thing he has been accused of doing is trying to use a fake ID to enter a bar in Philadelphia in late October as mentioned in a Bleacher Report Article . In college your going to have some teammates that are 21 but your also going to be able to find teammates that are not of the legal age of drinking which allows you to find a group and hang out and can even drink with them without feeling left out for not being able to go out with the rest of your teammates to the bar. Also by staying in college by the time he would reach the NBA he would be 21 and this whole incident would of been avoided.

  Next Incident Okafor has been in trouble for recently is the two citations he received from the Delaware River port Authority Police on Oct. 19. The Citations are according the The Philly Inquirer are reckless driving and driving at an excessive rate of speed, and according to the statement he was clocked at reaching speeds of 108 m.p.h. on the Ben Franklin Bridge which has a reported speed limit of 45 m.p.h. The worst part is not only is the young man putting his very own life in danger and also his only career because that is all he has at this point since he left college early and received no degree.

Lastly it had been reported that he had been in some altercations with people which allegedly lead to a gun being pulled on him in early Oct. and most recently last Wednesday which would of been the day before Thanksgiving there is video of him fighting outside a club in Boston, MA. There was reports of two fights happening on this night and TMZ has video of both of the fights that can be found by clicking here. Most spectators that were interviewed in articles say most of the fights have started just from hecklers. I think this just goes back to maturity issues, and not being ready to be put into such a large spotlight.

I do think think some players are gifted and ready to play in the NBA, but are they ready to deal with all that comes with being a professional athlete? As you play in college you can slowly adopt into the spot light and in the case of Jahlil he had one of the greatest coaches and mentors to learn and become the best basketball player he possible can be on and ready for the off court. Coaches can have some of the greatest influence on athletes at all levels and being able to play under some of these great college coaches and having them help you become the best you can be as a person and not just an athlete is something one and done college players should at least consider before taking the giant leap to the NBA.

Jahlil Okafor also received a 2 game suspension form the Philadelphia 76ers because of these incidents referred to in this blog.

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

New Looks for Some NBA Teams

 There where five teams this past off season who went under re-branding for the 2015-2016 NBA season. Thea teams are the Clippers, Hawks, Raptors, Bucks, and Sixers. I will be ranking them 5-1 in my opinion on who did the best job this off season.

5. LA Clippers

Add caption

The design is cool and something different, The white jerseys are the better of the two with design. The red jerseys are ugly and number next to the logo like that looks bad. Overall not a bad job though I think the City of LA will like the jerseys I believe it fits there demographic.





4. Philadelphia 76ers

http://www.nba.com/sixers/MadeInPHILA

These jersey's are a little better than the Clippers jerseys I think the style with these are more of a retro look that will great for the city of Philly. Because I think once again this team is going to be a team in the dumps for another seasons
and hopefully these help them live in the past a little bit longer

Bleacher Report

3. Toronto Raptors
The jerseys didn't bring to much of the change in their design but more in the Logo which is much cooler than what is was before.

Bucks, Bleacher Report

2. Milwaukee Bucks
These jersey I think are cool because of
the design of the new logo. Even though the jerseys didn't change much I like the new logo better than the Raptors








1. Atlanta Hawks 
 The Hawks did a great job in re-branding used a new template new jerseys, integrated new colors. The jerseys are new and fun and will bring a new buzz to the Hawks franchise. These are the best new designed jerseys in the NBA.




These were all made in my own opinion and I also found another website that ranked these jersey so go head and check out Slants opinions on the NBA jerseys by clicking here.



Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

Warriors, Klay Thompson responds to Doc Rivers

The defending NBA champions the Golden State Warriors begin this year with a big target on their back. One is because they are the defending champs and since its the preseason still they are the team to beat. Also last years playoff run doesn't come without its fair share of controversy or criticism from people around the NBA coaches, players, and fans. Some fans that I know personal will laugh at how easy they think the Warriors had for their play off run, Granted one is die hard Spurs (Bulls, Nuggets, Pelicans, Knicks, how many more teams are their?) and the other a Clipper Fan. Saying that both of their teams would of crushed the playoffs if they wouldn't have faced each-other and had the route the Warriors had. Than you have NBA coaches who wish they would of had the chance to play the Warriors in the playoffs. Clippers coach Doc Rivers stated "You need luck in the West, Look at the Warriors they didn't have to play us or the Spurs." Which can be found in a interview done with Grantland which you can find here. In which Klay Thompson responded, "He is bitter" and that Klay said "I wanted to play them last year, but they couldn't handle their business." I guess the team that won the NBA championships last year, had the best record in the NBA, and the MVP Stephen Curry, Will set out to prove this year that they belong at the top of the NBA.

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

The NBA Family

On Tuesday October 13, Former NBA champion with the LA Lakers, Lamar Odom who was found unconscious at the Love Ranch a brothel just outside of Las Vegas. He is currently in critical condition at a hospital in the area. Former teammate Kobe Bryant leaves after game and former GM Mitch Kupchak have visited Lamar shortly after their game in Las Vegas as well. Many former teammates and friends have reached out over several social media platforms sending out prayers and reminders to others to keep him and his family in their thoughts and prayers as he battles for his life.

Found at Lakers Nation

Dwyane Wade's Twitter

 This reinforces the idea of sports can create a family bond between teammates that last a lifetime. Form teammate of Lamar's in Miami Dwyane Wade tweeted  (on the left). The NBA is more than a league of player going out to the court every day and night destroying there bodies just so people can bet on them and criticize them on their wrong doings, These guys also do it cause they love their teams, the love the sport, and they love their fans. Through this and this is relevant in all sports at all levels a bond between is created that makes it more than teammates, it makes them a family.

To everybody please keep the wonderful Lamar Odom in your thoughts and prays as he fights his toughest battle.

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

Favorite Feature of NBA 2K16

While patiently waiting for the 2015 basketball season to start the easiest way to bridge this gap of time is to go out and get this years NBA 2K16 basketball game to fill up the time till the NBA season kicks off. Each year they enhance some of the features of the game which they did a lot with the my player mode. My favorite addition to the game from last years is in the GM mode. The following site shows some of the other NBA 2k16 9 new features along with the one I will address in this blog.

The GM mode where you choose one of the NBA teams to be under your control, you become the General Manager and are now in control of the business operations of the team. One of the cool new features that has been added this year is the option to relocate the team. I will go through the steps of this in hope of successful getting 16 of the owners to approve the application to move your team.

First was choosing a team, Sorry Milwaukee Buck fans, but I think your franchise needs to be moved. (not really but thought this would be one off the easier teams to move because of their recent lack of success). Than you need to decided where to move the team there are 60+ options in the United States along with 3 options in Canada. I think keeping this team in the Midwest will be important and decided on moving the team to Kansas City. They also give you the option of building the stadium in the downtown area or the Suburbs along with plus and minus to both of those areas, expected attendance and operation costs. The final decision was to move the Bucks to the Suburbs in Kansas City.

      The next decisions is whether to keep the team as the Bucks or re-brand the franchise. I choose to re-brand the franchise and call them the Kansas City Stingers, The re-branding process gives you the option to change the team name, colors, and symbol. This is what Kansas City Stingers look like.

This is THE BEEHIVE, created using NBA 2k16 Team Relocation tools

Next option is to create the arena for your team to play in this starts with Naming the arena and this is what ever you want it to be and also giving it a short name, THE BEEHIVE , Is the home of the Stingers. Next steps are choosing from the different types of seating in your arena, than design the court down to the color of every out of bounds line and the advertisements on the scorers table. You also get to place text on the Baselines, and have the ability to download images to be added on the court.

The next step is to create home and away jerseys for your team. Starting with the base of the jerseys design once you decide on this you move to the color scheme of your jerseys. Next you move to designing the stripes along the neck, arm, and waist line of the jerseys. You adjust the numbers and names on the jerseys to your desired size and placement on the jersey. The finally you can add logos to wherever you want on the jersey. The following are the customized home and away jerseys for the Stingers.

The last step before submitting your relocation offer to the league is to select facilities and upgrades for the future stadium with money that is currently available from your owner. This will be in areas of luxury seating, concessions, restaurants, parking, merchandise, seating, green initiatives, public transportation, amenities, and digital services. They each have different levels under each category, what you upgrade and what you cant upgrade can be very important to offer being passed by the other league owners. This leads into the last steps of the relocation process, you submit the offer to the league and wait as other teams vote on weather they want this to be approved if the believe this is a legitimate offer. You also have the opportunity prior and after the submission of the offer to hear from the other owners and where they stand on the issue. You will than find out if you team has been approved for relocation.

Michael Standley
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@mikestandley23

My Preseason Favorites to Win the 2015 - 2016 NBA Finals

http://claycord.com/2015/06/16/warriors-win-the-golden-state-warriors-are-the-nba-champions/

The 2015-2016 NBA season is right around the corner and now is the time you start to wonder did your team make enough moves to catch the Golden State Warriors, Western Conference Champs or Eastern Conference Champs the Cleveland Cavaliers. Also according to power rankings from ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings) they have both of these teams on the top of their list to start the season along with the old reliable Spurs and the I’m just going to ignore these calls from Mark Cuban, LA Clippers. With that being said I’m going to give my prediction of the Eastern and Western Conference championship and the 2016 NBA Championships.

Eastern Conference Championships (Bulls beat the Cavaliers in 6 Games)

Chicago Bulls

Granted the Bulls have had issues in the past with staying healthy...(D-Rose)... and last year Joakim Noah who only played in 12 games will be the key to the Bulls getting this far in the playoffs. But if these two can stay healthy along with new Head Coach Fred Hoiberg and his new run and gun approach to the game I would expect big things out of them. Also can’t forget the year Jimmy Butler, who will most likely put bigger numbers this year with the new style of offense.

Cleveland Cavaliers

With the same squad as last year the team will thrive and dominate in the east minus playing the Heat and Bulls. The only issue when it comes to another deep playoff run when they run into a good game who will step up, or will there be too many guys trying to do to much.

Western Conference Championship (Warriors beat Spurs in 7)

San Antonio Spurs

How does Gregg Popovich continue to do it year after year. They got better adding guys like David West and LaMarcus Aldridge I don't think any team in the NBA had a better off-season. Along with adding those two he convinced his old timers to all return and continue playing, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. This team is going to be hard to beat with the post presence they now have.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors are back and now with the experience of winning a NBA Championship and knowing what it takes to get there will help them get back there again. Also with the big addition of Jason Thompson the 6’11 Power forward who played for the Kings last year adds depth to the Warriors front court.

NBA Championship (Warriors beat Bulls in 6)

This will be a great NBA finals to Watch the score boards will light up with points from both sides. The Warriors will prevail in the end due to the amount of talent and pure shooters and athletes that are on their roster. All of this together will be impossible for the Bulls to keep up with.

-Michael Standley

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@mikestandley23