Shaq..Pippen Beef!

Its Only Heating Up

With social media becoming the new way to say what on your mind, Shaq took to Instagram and posted a picture of arguably the best 5 Lakers to play the game of basketball, also included was the best 5 Bulls. From the Lakers from left to right  Irving Magic Johnson, The black mamba Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor,  Shaq Diesel and The Big Fella Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Bulls Best 5 from left to right the young gun Derrick Rose, M.J., Scottie Pippen, the wild child Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant. 

The caption reading, "We would beat em by fifty, what you think?" This started a social media frenzy. The sports world is known for daily debates, a large majority of them including the great one..23.. Michael Jordan. But this time it hit the heart of his right hand man Scottie Pippen. 

Coming back with his own ammo, Pippen posted a picture captioned, "Sorry @Shaq, I don't get caught up in the hypotheticals. All I know is we won 6 titles." 

Shaq felt that Michael Jordan did a majority of the work because he came right back and posted another picture with Pippen's face cut out and Jordan's cropped in instead. The two have going back and forth, creating a hilarious duel via Instagram. The two have even started a debate big enough that Sports Center, First Take and other sports talk specials have added it to their scripts. 

This could be a great situation for the sports world to cover. Its going to lead to more drama and action for the media  and will definitely keep the people talking!

LS

Complete Rebuild?

Lakers Need All The Help They Can Get

With their fearless leader Kobe Bryant out, the Lakers are in a complete jam not on the court but also from a venue standpoint. The Lakers have been struggling to fill seats in the Staples Center.

Sitting a whopping 22-55 for the regular season, its become apparent that no ones showing up to watch the Purple and Gold. The Lakers organization and the Staples Center have come together to make the executive decision to just cut ticket prices, in hopes of people coming by the mass to watch a game.

The organization has announced they will continue to cut higher priced tickets to have the arena filled.
For an example, the usual $400 tickets -- right behind court side seats -- are going for $119. -TMZ Sports

The idea of cutting the prices down is a simple but great one because if you look at teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks or Cleveland Cavaliers whom are doing well this season all have significantly cheaper ticket prices and tend to relatively have packed arenas for home games.

It wouldn't be logical to make the tickets too cheap but from the standpoint of a team struggling on the court and suffering to have the minimum amount of fans in their arena, it's a great marketing decision for the Los Angeles Lakers to finally make because their average ticket price of 130.00  is up with the New York Knicks, another team struggling on the court.

If this works for the Lakers, the New York Knicks should definitely lower their ticket prices. Although the venue of MSG is indeed a great one, more people would be able to enjoy a Knicks game.

LS

Good Ole Stephon

Former NBA All Star Wins 3rd CBA Championship

After the simmering of his NBA Career in 2009, Stephon Marbury took his talents the Chinese Basketball Association in 2010, a place known for NBA players to continue their careers.

For a while, Marbury was heartbroken that he couldn't continue his NBA dreams and win another world championship, his NBA career was a bit of a rise and fall. 

He had a good run with a few teams, being nominated for 2 NBA All-Star games, but in the end slipped off the platform of elite players in the league. But slowly, Stephon Marbury rose to a successful rebirth after taking his talents to China. 

Just two years after joining the CBA, Stephon Marbury boosted his Beijing Ducks to a league championship. In his first season with the team, he lead the Ducks to a  13-game win streak, and eventually finished second in the regular season. The Beijing Ducks ultimately beat the  the Guangdong Southern Tigers, 4-1 in the championship series for the title.

It's crazy to think that a 38 year old still bears the competitive nature that Marbury demonstrates. 

He addressed the media saying, "This year, a lot of people criticized me, saying I was old, that I couldn't play anymore. But I turned all that into fuel." Also saying, "When we won the first championship, people said we couldn't get another. After the second, people said you guys can't repeat. Establishing a dynasty has always been my goal and my motivation. -ESPN

On Sunday, Marbury was able to achieve more greatness and reestablish himself as a great player, by winning the Beijing Ducks 3 overall and second consecutive championship.

An ecstatic Stephon Marbury took to twitter saying, "Jesus did it!! Back 2 Back championships! Keep talking behind my back and God gone keep blessing me in yo Face!" 

LS

D. Rose out again?!

 Derrick Rose Tears Meniscus in Right Knee

Over the course of his career, Derrick Rose has battled a bunch of different injuries. 

From his torn ACL to his battles with hamstring and ankle strains, D. Rose has been branded as one of the best point guards to play the game because of his tenacious in game play. 

From his laser sharp awareness and unbelievable jumping ability or unbelievable speed for a 6 ft 3 point guard, he's regarded as a great.

But for some sad reason, D. Rose has been one the athletes pummeled with injuries at the worst times.

This morning more sad news was released by ESPN that Derrick Rose would undergo yet another knee surgery to fix a torn Meniscus in his right knee, just after battling a hamstring and ankle injury recently.

Bulls' Head Coach Tom Thibodeau said this morning that, "I don't know what to say other than it's just so unfair. A guy's been through so much and you know what he's put into it. This one, any time you have surgery it's tough, but hopefully this one will be much shorter than the other ones." 

As a student athlete that has been riddled with different injuries over the course of 4 & 1/2 years of Varsity athletics, I definitely feel the pain that Derrick Rose is going through.

When you battle through so much, it takes a lot out of you to want to keep going..But Derrick has a huge fan backing because of his background, what he does for his neighborhood and his ability to be a great role model on and off the court.

So one can only pray and hope Derrick Rose Bounces back from this knee injury and disappointment. Not only for himself and the Chicago Bulls Organization, but for the game of basketball, we all love to see great athletes compete for the Championship in the summer.

LS

 

Richest Kid Out Of High School

Recent high school graduate Emmanuel Mudiay is to become one of the richest overseas players ever to come straight out of high school. Mudiay has agreed and signed a hefty $1.2 million dollar contract with Gangdong of the China Basketball Association. The Five Star point guard was headed to SMU to play for the great Larry Brown but ran into eligibility issues, so instead of trying to dilly dally with the issue he pursued a different route- a much richer one at that. 

Although the compensation is a very appealing figure, Mudiay has to still deal with the challenge  of development. Under Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown, 6 ft 5 point guard would learn and develop his craft from one of the best to coach the game. It's extremely rare any 18-year-old basketball prospect to be offered that much money, especially with a foreign contract. But Emmanuel Mudiay has already become a symbolic figure for both the good and bad of losing out with the NCAA and their regulations. 

Another big question in debate is whether or not this choice to skip out on college and peruse overseas professionalism. Another individual that comes to mind is Brandon Jennings who came out of high school and instead of attending Arizona, he also chose the overseas route and played for the Italian basketball club Lottomatica Roma. The issue is that a lot of top rated players making the decision to go to their perspective schools will see this as another route and soon college basketball will become an outlet instead of a pathway to furthering your education.