The No. 1 Pick Sets His NBA Goals; Philly Has The Next Pau Gasol

We’re all for pushing the limits. When Kobe said he was skipping college to test himself in the NBA, we said “Do you, kid.” When Dirk Nowitzki said he wanted to stop shooting threes and work to become more of a post player, we thought it was a great move. Even when Pat Riley tried to turn Anthony Mason into a point-forward, we thought the plan might have potential. We’ve supported nearly every basketball move outside of the “Andrew Bynum Three-Point Program” but this summer’s No. 1 pick might be thinking just a lil’ too high. Anthony Davis doesn’t want to be good. He wants to go from being a college kid to the best defensive player in the world in one year. In a recent Q&A with The New York Times, Davis specifically stated his goals for his first season are winning the Rookie of the Year (very possible), making First-Team All-Rookie (a certainty) and First-Team All-Defense (difficult, but not entirely impossible), and finally, winning the Defensive Player of the Year. Where’s Marcus Camby to give him one of his patented backhands to the face? Seriously, Davis has the potential to win a few DPOYs before he hangs them up, but defense in the NBA, more than anything else, is all about reputation. It doesn’t seem right, but coaches and media members vote based on what someone’s already accomplished, and referees are even worse. Does anyone really believe Kobe was a Second-Team All-Defender last year? No. But he was on there. College defenders entering the NBA almost always spend a few years learning the tricks and gaining a rep before they start taking home the hardware. Davis does have a few things working for him that almost no one else has – an insane wingspan, quick hops and a desire to actually play defense – but he has virtually no chance to do it as a rookie. His chances of winning it are somewhere between the odds for “The Hornets making the playoffs” and “Brook Lopez grabbing six rebounds a game.” For better or worse, Davis is dead set on changing the NBA. He also said he wouldn’t shave his unibrow – because it’s its own self and is an icon – unless someone gave him a billion dollars … Speaking of Kobe, you’re not going to believe this, but he finally reached an out-of-court settlement with an estate that was suing him for allegedly assaulting a Grizzlies fan in a 2005 game. Reported by The Memphis Commercial Appeal, Bryant was running after a ball on the baseline, ran into a fan, and according to the fan’s estate, he intentionally elbowed the man in the chest, causing the fan to feel like “a human punching bag.” Seven years went by and the estate is still carrying on with this? And it was all over $75,000, too. We wonder how much they paid in legal fees during the past seven years? The fan, Bill Geeslin, actually died in 2008, and though his death and the incident with Bryant had no relation, Geeslin’s estate carried on with the suit because they said, Bryant should not be able to “inject such pain.” What’s ironic is most fans would flip this around and be bragging to their boys afterwards, “Hey guess what? Kobe Bryant ran into me on the sideline and pushed me out of the way. It was awesome!” … And if you thought life couldn’t suck any worse for Sacramento fans, it turns out they’re the only fanbase in the league who can’t buy their own team’s gear online. That’s right. The team’s official store hasn’t worked since June 15. Kings’ officials say it’s because the company who made it for them folded during these hard economic times and it takes up to four months to build a new website … Keep reading to hear what big change NBA 2K13 made …

We knew Doug Collins was excited about his new Sixer lineup. But now he’s just going overboard. The man who’s always been considered a Michael Jordan blowhard (the next time he goes an entire broadcast without ever starting a sentence with “When I coached Michael Jordan…” will be the first) is now proclaiming he has a man to play the Pau Gasol role next to Andrew Bynum. Who? Spencer Hawes. Hawes is a very good shooter, and can pass the ball, but Collins should know by now you can’t trust him to give you consistent play on a regular basis. Hawes was a stud throughout the first few weeks last season, averaging 12.5 points, shooting 63 percent and garnering five double-doubles in the Sixers’ first eight games. Then, he had five double-doubles the rest of the season … Blake Griffin says he’s ready to go after knee surgery knocked him off the Olympic Team, and admitted that even if camp started today, he’d be 100 percent healed. His surgery – just an arthroscopic procedure – wasn’t very serious. But Griffin isn’t the only question mark amongst the Clippers’ walking wounded. Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups are both still recovering from surgeries. With the amount of new blood that needs to be worked into the lineup, and with all kinds of potential road blocks, L.A.’s jayvee team has to be considered the largest unknown going into training camp. They have seven or eight legit players, and have two of the top 10-15 in the world, and yet no one knows what to make of them. They could win a round or two in the playoffs, or they could harmlessly lose in the first round … And NBA 2K13 finally corrected their mistake and got Scottie Pippen into the game and on the Dream Team. In the end, you can thank Pippen for that. It turns out he heard the cries of the disappointed fans and ultimately decided, “Well, I guess it’s not so bad to let a video game company pay me so they can put my face in a video game.” … By the way, did you see the game’s new All-Star Weekend trailer? … We’re out like Kings gear.