Center of Attention

The Lakers won for only the third time in December last night in Philadelphia. While they won by 13, it wasn’t particularly impressive considering the Sixers were missing Jrue Holiday. The more interesting takeaway from the game was the comments made by former Laker Andrew Bynum.

As standalone quotes, his words come off a lot more scandalous-sounding then they actually were. That said, Bynum sure did have a lot to say—especially for a guy who has yet to log a single minute of playing time this season.

Let’s break down his quotes…and his logic.

Old Guys Getting it Done

It's highly unlikely that any of the following gentlemen will be winning the Finals MVP this year. None of them are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who won the award when he was 38). That said, there's a ton of old guys doing work in the Association this season. Just pick a Knick.

David Stern: A player feature from a fan's perspective

David Stern has been a very good commissioner. He was the only NBA commissioner in my own lifetime, so I have no one to personally compare him to, but according to the majority, he was a huge upgrade over Larry O’Brien. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize how well of a job he’s been doing because they’re either too young or wildly unreasonable – or both. My point is this – running a professional sport league successfully is an overwhelming task and nearly-thankless job, and David Stern did it better than most people think.

The knock on Stern these last several years is that he is stubbornly tyrannical, and that it’s been a long time coming for him to step down. Off the top of my head, I can think of four events that helped fuel this reputation of his. There was a public outcry for each one, but each one was defensible.

Remember the Alamo: SA Spurs 12-13 Preview (Pt. 1)

You’d think having 14 years of sustained success on the back of arguably the best power forward of all time, who carried the Spurs every one of those years (but one) to no less than 50 wins, while also winning four championships and reaching the conference finals three other times, would make people stop doubting—no matter how much father time takes his toll.

Despite all of that, very few people outside of Texas felt that the Spurs were championship material last year.

And yet, they absolutely were.