Miami Heat All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler is hoping to keep the nameplate on the back of his jersey blank to underscore that if he weren't an NBA player, he would be "no different than anybody else of color."
Many players have decided to wear one of a list of NBA-approved social justice messages during play later this month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Butler said he hopes the NBA will allow him to wear no message at all.
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade met with students Wednesday for the first full day back at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Wade's visit was a surprise to the students, and a Heat spokesman said the shooting guard arranged the visit on his own.
With the NBA playoffs about to start there is a conspiracy theory floating around that the Miami Heat threw games to avoid playing either the Miami Heat or the Brooklyn Nets. Now the same people who believe that probably believe in UFO's, Big Foot, that Tupac is still alive, and that WWE Wrestling is real. (they could be right about that last one)
They claim that since both the Nets and Bulls have winning records against the Heat that Miami is trying to avoid both teams in the second round of the playoffs. Now those people forget that in the playoffs things are different and the games slow down. Sweeping a team in the regular season can mean nothing in the post season. Especially not against a playoff tested team such as the Heat.
There are reasons why the Miami Heat should beat both teams.
Chicago has a great defense (actually the best in the NBA) but at the time of this writing are the worst scoring team in the NBA with a 93.8 average. Yup, that's right both Milwaukee and Philadelphia score more per game than them.
Chicago has no go to player in the clutch for a basket. While D.J. Augustin may be their leading scorer it's a stretch ( a Plastic Man like stretch ) to say that he is anywhere near clutch. Joakim Noah has the heart of a line but he has the offensive game of one too. I don't think the Bulls can score enough points on a consistent basis to beat the Heat.
The Brooklyn Nets no doubt have played very well lately. But they wont beat the Heat either. Does anyone really believe that a team that has had many chances to narrow the gap between themselves and Toronto in head to head matches and has failed to do so is a threat to Miami?
Brooklyn relies on two players who get discounts when they go grocery shopping by showing their AARP cards. Those players would be Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnet. They were great once but can they stay on the floor long enough to make a difference?
Their best player Deron Williams has to be constantly reminded that he is the best player. Jason Kidd has had a great rookie season as a coach but we simply have no idea how he will coach in the playoffs. Will he defer to the veterans even if they are not playing well, which big man loses playing time with the emergence of Jason Plumlee, how short of a leash will he have on Andray (there's no such thing as a bad shot) Blatche?
Because of all those reasons I believe the Heat have nothing to worry about if they face the Bulls or Nets and have not thrown any games to avoid them. What do you think?
I'm going to be very honest with you. When I first read Kobe Bryant's comments on the Miami Heat photo in support of Trayvon Martin and his family my first thought was something real profound and thoughtful. F*CK KOBE!
I was mad because Kobe should know that the photo of the Miami Heat was taken when the public was asking that George ( I beat women ) Zimmerman be arrested. The photo was not taken after the verdict in the case. The Heat were only asking for due process to take place not saying that Zimmerman was guilty. And unlike Kobe they were taking a public stand on a social situation which Kobe would never due for fear of f*cking up his money.
Here's what Kobe said:
I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” he said. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”
Now Kobe is entitled to his opinion but he should think before he opens his mouth. You see it seems that Kobe has forgotten his own little rape case back in 2003. When he was accused of rape in Colorado many people rushed to his defense. In truth many didn't know if he was innocent or guilty but many thought the rape charges were an attempt to railroad him as a black man.
Now understand something. Kobe was never that big in the African American community because he came off like an a**hole that would sell you out first opportunity he got ( see Shaq ). And even with that many African American's still rushed to his defense.
I guess that Kobe has forgotten that. I didn't hear him telling African Americans to get their facts first before defending him. He ran "home" again just like OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson did when they got in trouble.
This makes Kobe Bryant a hypocrite. So that brings me back to my original thought after reading Kobe's comments.
