So we here at the Off-Season blog aren’t exactly latent in our support for the future of the NBA, Kevin Durant. In fact it’s borderline fanboy at this point. Quite embarrassing, really. BUT HEY! When Durant surpasses Kobe numbers and reaches Hall of Fame status, don’t act like we never made this Durant t-shirt when he was but a 21-year old on the rise.
Oh and of course in wearing this, you also support TEAM USA. You’re not…Un-American…are you? Kidding…but seriously, it’s win/win. SUPPORT OUR HOOPS!
(credit to @Suga_Shane & waxandmilk for the design)
Not that we are condoning occasionally funny late night comedians in black face, but this here’s an exception. Also make sure to do a search for the Karl Malone beanie babies skit from Crank Yankers.
Potential drunken tattoo idea #24: The Dunking Fruit Stripe Zebra
This also makes for a really convincing case to relocate the Sacramento Kings to San Diego and rename them the San Diego Zebras…if only to use this logo. Am I alone on this???
Brandon Jennings having some fun in the off-season. You know, summertime in Milwaukee is actually a lot similar to the summers Brandon spent growing up in Compton. Except when guys are wearing khakis and taking aim, I’m pretty sure it’s not silly string that comes out though.
As detailed in this post, we at the humble NBA Off-Season blog have embraced the analogy of Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga to that of the Black Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant.
And it is in tonight’s would-be epic Game 7 in which we the viewers—after joining Kobe’s plight since his beatdown in the ‘08 Finals and battling through an otherwise dull post-season (if only Ennio Morricone’s “L’Arena” was playing throughout the Thunder and Suns series)—at long last have reached the final chapter.
After suffering a couple blows from the Celtics and being injected “The Truth” serum in Paul Pierce dropping 27 in the Garden, The Bride aka “The Bean” has now emerged from that crippling loss and is ready for the final battle. And much like the ending of Kill Bill Volume 2, the two adversaries—who now have a clearer understanding of the other—are seated face-to-face knowing that only one of them will be leaving the room alive.
ED. NOTE: I (Mark Malazarte/waxandmilk) however, do have a bias towards “our” protagonist and hope the dénouement of this game plays out similar to that of Tarantino’s script. Obviously, for the sake of this metaphor actually fitting. And secondly, I roll with Phil Jackson. But real talk, I’m a Magic fan, and I should really hate both these teams. Had it been Orlando/LA again like oh the majority of us had expected (WHOOPS!), I would most likely not be writing this. That said though, break out the popcorn and champagne. Let’s hope this last one’s as good as the film.
As Kenny Smith famously yelled out during the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest after Vince Carter (with a little assist from his cuz T-Mac) took the ball mid bounce and delivered a VERY nasty through-the-legs dunk, “it’s over”.
Hate to be the cynic, but being a long-time Magic fan, this Carter trade has WTF written all over it. For one, in signing Carter, that only makes it worse for the Magic in keeping Hedo Turkoglu as they would for sure have to pay luxury tax in order to keep either Hedo or Gortat. So this dicy trade could potentially probably means Turk’s not comin back to O-Town.
Furthermore, this is not the year 2000. It’s 2009 and Vince Carter is not the same explosive athlete he once was. If anything he is very similar to his cousin in that they are injury prone and have progressively sucked since getting hurt. If the Boston Red Sox have their curse, then this just might be Orlando’s. The Magic have a long history of getting “star” players on their last legs (See: Patrick Ewing, Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Mark Price, Steve Francis, Shawn Kemp, Steve Kerr, Juwan Howard, Grant Hill, Derek Harper, Rod Strickland, Reggie Theus, Rony Seikaly) only to have them contribute their names and once “star appeal” but nothing on the court. And let’s not forget the carcinogen that is Darko Milicic too.
I don’t know. Maybe Otis Smith has an ace up his sleeve. Or maybe the reality is that despite the Magic receiving a pretty good rookie in Ryan Anderson, they will have the burden of an aging, 3/4 man 1/4 amazing Vince Carter with the possibility of keeping Gortat once they pay the luxury tax.
Or maybe, Vinsanity will snap out of it, as he is practically hometown (from Daytona Beach) and this could be his last time to get to the finals again so maybe, just maybe, he’ll pull through and be a good replacement for Hedo. Either way, angry Magic fan over here.
