Chris Webber will forever be known as the best underwhelming NBA player ever. He was one of the greatest power forwards of this generation, and yet, it always felt like he should’ve been more. That dates back to his early feuds in Golden State with Don Nelson, one of the first instances where everyone realized this Generation X of players had way too much power. We really wish they had found a way to make it work (imagine a young Webber playing in Nellie’s small-ball system?). But in an interview with ESPN.com, Nelson acknowledged it got to a point where he knew it’d never work. He wanted out, wanted to do whatever he could to escape, and would’ve coached the Spurs while Webber stayed in the Bay. While those were some tough times, Nellie chooses to only remember the good stuff, like he’s “the women who say they can’t remember how hard it was when they look at their baby.” … It’s now nearly official: Andray Blatche reportedly signed with Brooklyn for the minimum (it’s also nonguaranteed), and could man both power positions for the Nets next year as a backup. When we wrote on this earlier this week, there were still questions about whether Miami could sneak in and grab Blatche. SI.com reports there’s still a chance. Hopefully, he won’t be spending his down time on South Beach … According to the Toronto Sun‘s Ryan Wolstat, Toronto is bringing Jamaal Magloire to camp on a non-guaranteed invitation. We still remember when he made an All-Star Team back in 2004. But at this point in his career, the Big Cat is 34 and hasn’t made a contribution on any team in five years. This can’t be anything other than political … And since we’re on the topic of old guys, Kevin Willis just turned 50 years old. Besides having some T-Rex arms, he’s always been in really good shape, and actually played in the league until he was 44. But despite being out of the game for nearly six years, Willis told Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports that he could play for 15-20 minutes a game right now, and would return if a team was serious about signing him. We’d pay good money to see that … ESPN The Magazine dropped their annual look into the best and worst of sports franchises from 2011, and while we weren’t surprised to see teams like the Spurs and Thunder in the top 10, we were a little surprised to see Memphis make the top 10. They were No. 9 amongst all sports franchises, which – if we go by what we’ve been taught for years – should never happen when you start Tony Allen and Zach Randolph. In the ownership department, which is defined as “Honesty and loyalty to core players and local community,” the Kings finished No. 121 out of 122. That sounds about right. Still, don’t put too much juice into this stuff. Some of it just doesn’t make sense. The Thunder, for instance, were ranked No. 62 in stadium experience despite having some of the looniest and wildest fans in sports. Maybe the popcorn sucks? (To contrast that, the Magic were first among NBA teams in stadium experience. Considering Dwight Howard is gone, we’re guessing that’ll drop when these rankings come out next year. The Amway Center is going to feel like a wake this season). Then, the Lakers are somehow only No. 15 in the category called Title Track, which is “Championships already won or expected in the lifetime of current fans.” Someone didn’t realize David Stern loves seeing the Lakers win. But by far the funniest rankings don’t even involve a NBA Team. The Bengals were dead last in both player categories: Effort on the field and likability off it. How does that even happen? If you’re going to field a bunch of idiots, at least make sure they play hard … Oh yeah, as for the Spurs? They were the exact opposite … Keep reading to hear what crazy thing Mark Jackson is saying now …
Golden State’s Mark Jackson has really been off his rocker this week. First, there was the crazy comment about Reggie Miller being potentially the third-best shooting guard of all time, despite his credentials suggesting he’s perhaps barely a top-10 player at his position. Now, he’s comparing Reggie with Klay Thompson. Normally, we hate when people compare how someone plays – their on-court style – and then someone turns it around and tries to say it’s a Player A vs. Player B comparison. But Jackson took it to the next level in a conversation with Chris Broussard. First, he said they have some similarities, which is fine. It’s true. Thompson is a fabulous shooter. As a rookie, he shot over 41 percent from deep. However, then Jackson said they were two of the all-time great shooters, and added, “Even now, Klay is in that class. Like Reggie, he has that gift. They have similar bodies and both guys are strong.” We need to see a lil’ more from Thompson first. We can still remember making jokes about Thompson’s jumper at the start of last season (he couldn’t make anything), and taking office bets on who would make a midrange J first: Thompson or DeAndre Jordan … 2K Sports dropped another piece of news yesterday for NBA 2K13. You can now appease even the deepest sections of your ego by choosing your very own pre-game rituals in the MyPlayer mode. Is it a cool effect? Yeah it should be. But unless you are actually Chad Johnson, watching yourself go through the same routine 82 times a year will get pretty old. 2K dropped a screenshot of a dude doing a handstand, which is probably the most random pre-game ritual we’ve seen since Les Miles started eating grass (Cue up the gamers screaming about how 2K needs to concentrate on gameplay and that if they don’t, I’M SWITCHING BACK TO LIVE!!!) … And we can officially say goodbye to Brian Scalabrine, at least on the court. There were earlier reports Scal would take a coaching gig with the Bulls, but it sounds like he’ll opt instead to start a broadcast career with Comcast Sports New England, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. Good for him. It really is amazing he lasted 11 years in the NBA. Think about that … We’re out like a 50-year-old in the NBA.
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