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A hopeful glance at 2003 Posted: Tuesday December 31, 2002 10:18 AM
This is the time of year when the brotherhood of man feels all warm and gooey inside and dashes off Peace on Earth messages to its brethren. I'm not feeling particularly warm, but I am to some degree gooey -- have you ever met anyone who had an allergic epidermal reaction to his Christmas tree, as I did? -- and, therefore, more than willing to pitch in to this end-of-the-year-missive thing. Herewith, in no particular order, my 10 NBA New Year's wishes for 2003. I wish that ... 1. ... Michael Jordan plays in the All-Star Game in Atlanta even if he's not voted in as a starter. M.J. has said that he will skip the festivities to "relax in the Bahamas" (translate: 36 holes a day) if he's not one of the top two vote-getters at his position, which is guard, though he spends many of his Washington Wizards minutes at small forward. One could argue that Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Jerry Stackhouse, Jalen Rose, Ricky Davis, Rip Hamilton and Baron Davis are having better seasons than Jordan, though if Ol' Baldy did get the fans' nod it would hardly qualify as egregious. But the point is that Jordan should be there, starter or non-starter, because he has never received his All-Star coronation and this would be his last opportunity. (Uh, we think.) 2. ... the New York Knicks bring in some funk, bring in some noise. The Nix began the year with a bang, what with Latrell Sprewell's mysteriously injured thumb, a domestic-abuse charge against Kurt Thomas, the stonewalling silence of general manager Scott Layden, and the overall feeling that the whole blue-and-orange shootin' match in Madison Square Garden was about to implode. But over the first two months of the season the Nix have inhabited the nether regions of the Eastern Conference with a kind of passionless silence, doing nothing except playing with a brain-numbing mediocrity. Spree? You there? 3. ... the Jan. 31 showdown between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers in Sacramento has more fireworks and significance than the previous one on Christmas Day in L.A. For that to be the case, of course, the Lakers will have to be better than they are now. These two teams will still hate each other, but it won't make much difference if the defending champions are treading Pacific Division water with the Clippers and Warriors. Speaking of that Dec. 25 game, the Lakers' Rick Fox took some heat for refusing to shake hands with the Kings before the game, owing to bad feelings from last season's Western Conference finals, a preseason dustup with Doug Christie, and whatever other pregame animus Fox might have been feeling. I say: You go, Rick. I have no trouble with cold-shouldering your opponent before a game once in a while. In fact, maybe the Nix should try it. 4. ... John Stockton informs us before the end of the season whether this is his NBA curtain call. I think it will be but Stockton hasn't made his intentions clear, and it would be just like him to say he's going to mull it over, go hide in Spokane, then send word through carrier pigeon that he's through. This man, who on many nights is still among the top point guards in the league at age 40, deserves a league-wide sendoff, and I don't care how flummoxed he would be by all the attention. 5. ... David Robinson registers a double-double in his last game, at whatever stage of the postseason that happens to come for his San Antonio Spurs. Robinson has already said that this is his last season. One could take up a whole column listing the accomplishments of Stockton and Robinson, two original Dream Teamers, but here's the one that matters most: Their profession is infinitely better for their having been a part of it. 6. ... 97-year-old Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe continues sending his daily e-mails to his grandson, Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe III, otherwise known as Kiki, general manager of the Denver Nuggets. Kiki and his wife, Peggy, recently had their first child, a son, named, of course, Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe IV, meaning that four generations of EMV's are currently walking the earth. From his assisted-living apartment in southern California, the patriarch watches every minute of every Nuggets game, then logs on and transmits his opinions to his grandson, who is getting solid marks for the patient and orderly way he's trying to rebuild a broken franchise. "And I better get back to him that day," says Kiki. The most amazing thing is not that one individual can stand to watch so much Nuggets hoops; it's that there's a 97-year-old who knows how to send e-mail. Speaking of the Vandeweghes, Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe II, Kiki's father, was paid $100 per game by the Knicks during the 1949-50 and 1950-51 seasons because he was going to medical school and suited up only for home games. We don't foresee that kind of contract becoming much of a option again in future NBA negotiations. 7. ... the excellence of three particular players not get swallowed up by the mediocrity of their teams. One is the Chicago Bulls' Rose, who is a quiet ninth in the league in scoring with a 22.5-point average. Another is Elton Brand of the Clippers, a nightly double-double guy who never stops moving and almost always takes good shots. And the third is, of course, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett. The Timberwolves' inability to advance far in the playoffs (and it could happen again this season) has made Garnett arguably the most underappreciated player of his age. I mean, how good is this guy? He's 14th in scoring, second in rebounding, 17th in assists, 25th in steals and second (to Kobe Bryant's four) with three triple-doubles. The league also concocts a formula it calls "efficiency," which takes into account every statistical category; Garnett is first. This is a superstar of the first order, and we miss out on a lot of him. 8. ... Ray Allen grabs his Milwaukee Bucks by the scruff of their collective neck. You out there, Ray? Hello? Allen's numbers (22.3 ppg) are still impressive, he still moves smoothly and effortlessly, and I wouldn't want him to have a 3-point look with my team up by two and the clock winding down. But he should be getting his team going somewhere other than toward the rear of the Eastern pack. 9. ... Grant Hill's left ankle stops becoming a curse. Few athletes have poured their heart and soul into recovery more than the Orlando Magic forward, but, despite Hill's relentless optimism, the ankle is giving him severe problems. As of Monday, he had missed six games and parts of many others because of that cursed joint. 10. ... The Atlanta-Journal Constitution's Jeff Denberg win his battle with brain cancer. A longtime beat writer for the Hawks, Jeff has been back on the NBA trail at times this season and hopes to do more. During a phone conversation last week I asked him what was wrong with the Hawks -- not exactly an original question -- and Jeff said, "I hate to say it, but I think Lon [Kruger] has to go. It's a shame because he's a good guy, but that's the way it is." Three days later Kruger was fired as head coach. Jeff always has his head in the game. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Mailbag.
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