Inspired by Quentin Richardson and Paul Pierce’s recent war of words, SB Nation put together a fun little Haters’ Guide On NBA Feuds in recent years. Amongst the list:
Charles Oakley and Tyrone Hill
Easily the most hilarious of any NBA feuds and a good lesson to all of us. After Sixers’ forward Tyrone Hill failed to pay a gambling debt of $54,000, then-Raptor Charles Oakley waded into the 76ers shootaround in Toronto and pegged a basketball at Hill, nailing him right in the head. Pretty insane, right? Charles Oakley showing up out of nowhere, no doubt spewing expletives, and probably throwing multiple basketballs at Hill (no way he hit him on the first shot).
[…] Oh, and what’s the lesson? DO NOT. MESS. WITH OAK.
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I recently mentioned that I really, really don’t like Kevin Garnett. Seems I’m not alone. Has an NBA player ever gone so quickly from being a fan favorite to being fan hated? Kelly Dwyer wrote a great article on Why We Don’t Like Kevin Garnett Anymore:
for years, my consistent answer to “who’s your favorite player” has been “Kevin Garnett.”
Say that to a basketball nut, though, and you’re bound to take a little heat. Because for the duration of his three-season stay in Boston, Kevin Garnett(notes) has been rightfully regarded as, well, a bit of an ass.
And this isn’t solely due to mainstreaming of his play dates. This isn’t because he’s on national TV more often, because of the Celtics’ status as an elite team. He pulled some of this crap in Minnesota, but not nearly to this extent.
No, this is all on K.G., acting more and more the ass, and forcing people (we only have so much room up there, y’know) to forget what made him so special in the first place.
[…] There was the woofing from the Boston bench during the playoffs last season, an embarrassing display. There’s the incessant trash talking and harrassment sent the way of — yeah, I’ll say it — European players almost as a rule. There was the time he made Glen Davis cry on national TV because he wasn’t happy with Davis’ defensive rotations in a game the C’s were up 20.
There’s just the perpetual displays of emotion and rage and over-wrought warrior-isms, and it’s tiring. That’s always been part of the K.G. package, he was always the last to leave the shower, always the first to step into in-game mode before the game actually started, but never to this degree. This isn’t just the difference between Minnesota and Boston, and it’s certainly not just because of the difference in how many games K.G.’s teams are winning these days. Boston was .500 over the last three-and-a-half months of the season, and those Timberwolves teams piled up their fair share of wins a few times.
So why now? Why this sudden regression into, dare I say, childish petulance? Well, you’ve seen it before.
He’s a lion in winter.
He’s older, the legs aren’t there, the hops have hopped out of him and he’s scared. He’s insecure, he’s never had to play basketball like this, he doesn’t like it and he’s lashing out. He’s the basketball version of a distinguished gentleman suddenly turning into a right old coot in a senior citizen’s home, treating the help like dirt for reasons that don’t go beyond the fact that the distinguished gentleman needs help, now.
Personally, I started to lose some love for KG when he was in Minnesota and would act all tough, but when the game was on the line he never demanded the ball and took over. It’s one thing to get your points in the flow of the game, but during playoff bball you need to impose your will on the game. When Boston won it all two years ago, it was Paul Pierce who impressively did that. People have always given Rasheed Wallace grief for preferring to shoot threes rather than battle down low, but for some reason KG’s gotten a free pass on that count.
If Boston gets past Miami, they’ll play Cleveland, where even a hobbled KG should be able to use his 6’11” length down low against the 6’9″ Antawn Jamison. That should be one area where the Celts have a big advantage, but you can bet it won’t happen. Why? Did he try to take advantage of notorious poor defender Michael Beasley in Game 1? Nope. Last night his replacement, Big Baby Davis, wasn’t afraid to go to work and he was huge. The result was a blow-out victory after barely making it out of Game 1 alive. Is it possible that the Celts won not despite KG’s absence, but because of it?
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Is the below video the weirdest thing ever? You’d think Carmelo Anthony would be Public Enemy #1 in Salt Lake City since he could be the key player who prevents their beloved Jazz from advancing in the playoffs. Instead this video (which was aired nationally during the Nuggets/Jazz game), claiming to be from the People Of Utah, uses an odd quasi-religious tone to declare him some sort of human savior. However, if you look closely at lower right corner in the end, you’ll see it says it was actually sponsored by Jordan (I assume the brand, not the man himself). Guess it’s an ad, but dang, how weird is that?