Great article from Wojnaroski calling out nba's corrupt principles

[indeedproceed]

Love how people still get giddy about slam dunks. When I was like 8 I used to like watching Shaq dunk it in Orlando. Dont see the amusement at all anymore unless you are a kid. Every time I hear about these best dunks (basically Jordans and the last griffin one) im always expecting something out of this world. Then I realize its just a regular dunk but with a lot of high fiving people in the background

Dunking is an over rated thing - which is why KG and PP, hall of famers and champions, rarely do it. Finishing strong matters more than throwing it down. And hitting free throws even more so.

Is this meant to imply that Shaq isn't a Hall of Famer and a champion?  Doesn't Shaq have four rings, or am I missing something?

Also some HOFers like Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, or Dominique Wilkins were kind of known for dunking as well as winning. Then you've got LeBron James, a guaranteed first ballot guy who dunks multiple times a game.

[CelticG1]

Love how people still get giddy about slam dunks. When I was like 8 I used to like watching Shaq dunk it in Orlando. Dont see the amusement at all anymore unless you are a kid. Every time I hear about these best dunks (basically Jordans and the last griffin one) im always expecting something out of this world. Then I realize its just a regular dunk but with a lot of high fiving people in the background

Dunking is an over rated thing - which is why KG and PP, hall of famers and champions, rarely do it. Finishing strong matters more than throwing it down. And hitting free throws even more so.

Is this meant to imply that Shaq isn't a Hall of Famer and a champion?  Doesn't Shaq have four rings, or am I missing something?

Good thing is 20 years from now no one cares about the dunking. Its just in the now. Sending this message leads Blake griffin to be the next Shawn Kemp as opposed to a HOF. I mean honestly when yiu watch a game with Blake Griffin hes always geared up for the next slam instead of just playing basketball.

[fairweatherfan]

Its what makes basketball seen like kind of a joke. From the outside slooking in you see nbafans talking abiut slam dunks basically being highlights of the year.

It's not just basketball though - hasn't Sportscenter's highlight champion or whatever they call it for the past 3 months been a Jadeveon Clowney tackle from a second-tier bowl game?  And hockey has big hits and fights, baseball has amazing catches that only count for 1 out of 27, and so on.

Highlights are almost always spectacular little moments that rarely mean much in the bigger scale of the sport.  At least basketball has buzzer-beaters, which usually decide the game.

[CoachBo]

Ah, yes, this subject and that article bring back fond memories of all the Celtics fans who were convinced that Gerald Green was going to be a star - because he could dunk.

Drove me crazy then, drives me crazy now.

[KGs Knee]

Love how people still get giddy about slam dunks. When I was like 8 I used to like watching Shaq dunk it in Orlando. Dont see the amusement at all anymore unless you are a kid. Every time I hear about these best dunks (basically Jordans and the last griffin one) im always expecting something out of this world. Then I realize its just a regular dunk but with a lot of high fiving people in the background

A dunk is two points, the same a jumpshot from 15ft.

Sure, there can be a "wow" factor that gets the fans and the team hyped for a possesion or two, but at the end of the day it's not really any more important than any other made basket.

[soap07]

Such a dumb article and a unnecessary buzz kill. Total swing and miss and Woj. This doesn't change how Knight and Jordan are viewed as players. Same for Griffin or Perkins. Perkins is now a mediocre big man - that didn't change because Griffin dunked on him. Knight is an excellent young player - no NBA fan changed their view on that because Knight got dunked on. Jordan isn't a promising big man because he can dunk. He's very athletic and a good rebounder to boot.

[quidinqui33]

I like Woj but sometimes he gets on a soapbox for no good reason.  He is making a deliberate effort to paint the NBA in a bad light with this article and why, because people got excited about a pretty spectacular dunk.  It happens!

No one is disputing that Knight did the right thing by trying to block the shot, he got dunked on, and gets clowned a little for it.  Big deal! 

Knight took it all in stride after the game, just like Perk did when he got dunked on.

To turn this into some type of condemnation of the NBA's culture is a bit of a stretch.  We like tough D, we like flashy plays, we got both on that highlight.  Why woj is all worked up makes no sense.  He dragged lebron through the mud for a good year because of the decision.  What does that say about the subculture of the media?  It is ok to totally skewer an athlete because he made a bad PR decision that was his right but it is not ok to make fun of a guy for getting dunked on.   And honestly, its the media that is running with this dunk and making it an even huger deal.


 

[LooseCannon]

I've loved how the Celtics in recent years seems like the philosophical opposites of the Lob City Clippers.  I attribute the seeming disrespect that some fans think the Celtics get in the media as being more due to a lack of the flashy, highlight reel plays than because the sports media are Celtics haters who might be closet Laker fans (and some not so closeted).

Articles such as this reinforce my belief that Woj may be a little biased towards the Celtics and their style of basketball.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Lucky17]

I kind of felt like Woj was momentarily possessed by the spirit of Andy Rooney while writing this.

[ManUp]

Wojo's holier than thou act is getting a bit old for me.

Dunks are fun. If you don't get a kick out of displays of world class athleticism, and power why watch world class athletes? Embarrassing things happen all the time it's part of life. At the end of the day Knight is a young millionaire payed to play a sport living a better life style than 80% of the people cracking jokes. Wojo's article was trash, and I fail to see why I can't play that video back over and over rolling on the floor with laughter. Matter of fact just cause of this article I'm going to watch the video again.

[ManUp]

You guys are all very adult and mature about this whole thing.

Then, there's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIDS3q3F0H4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypot3CYECwE

Tp.

Hahaha I was confused thought Ross was really announce nBA games.

[CelticConcourse]

I've loved how the Celtics in recent years seems like the philosophical opposites of the Lob City Clippers.  I attribute the seeming disrespect that some fans think the Celtics get in the media as being more due to a lack of the flashy, highlight reel plays than because the sports media are Celtics haters who might be closet Laker fans (and some not so closeted).

Articles such as this reinforce my belief that Woj may be a little biased towards the Celtics and their style of basketball.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Spurs are polar opposites of Clippers. And they're better.

[edwardjkasche]

As a life-long player of basketball, and a defensive-minded one at that, I commend Knight for attempting to break up the play.  In my opinion, he should have went up even harder and potentially earned himself a flagrant foul.  I believe that you never give up anything easy at the rim. 

The culture in the game has changed a bit over the years, though dunks have been celebrated for the past 40 years.

The media today is now all about being buddy-buddy with the players.  They'd rather attend b-day parties with the guy who is dunking than commend the guy who attempted to break up the dunk but instead got "embarrassed."  The players are no better.  It's a me-first game.  Guys would rather protect their image than attempt to do the right thing to help out their team. 

I've always believed that when a weak-side defender gets "embarrassed" in cases like this his teammate (you know, the guy whose fault it is that this play actually occurred) should take him out for a very, very nice dinner. 

It's not Knight's fault that Jordan got that open to jump that high.  One of Knight's teammates should have picked up Jordan 20 feet from the basket, or at least impeded his full head of steam.

That teammate, who failed his defensive responsibility, owes Knight a very nice dinner.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Great article, and spot on. The object of the game: when you have the ball, score; when the other team has the ball, keep them from scoring. Defense is so undervalued and underappreciated these days that most players don't even try to play defense. Ever. Whether you're a big like Perk or a guard like Knight, your job on D is to do all you can to prevent the other team from scoring. Hats off to both those guys.

Edit: I especially like this line from Woj:

Jordan has a $43 million contract and yet still doesn't have one offensive move.

That pretty much sums up the NBA these days.

Jordan is a terrible offensive player outside of alley-oops, and even on defense—his forté—he averages only 7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, despite his youth, size, and freak athleticism.

[quidinqui33]

I think it is pretty clear that Woj has some type of dislike for either Jordan or the Clips.  He took multiple shots at Deandre as a player and his salary in that article, and why?  Because deandre made a play that people are talking about.  It's not like deandre is on a personal mission to humiliate Knight.  Knight just happened to be the guy that was in the play.

So just because Woj does not like that the MEDIA and fans are excited about that play, he has free reign to take shots at Jordan's level of basketball skill or the amount of money he makes.  Not sure that makes sense or qualifies as sound principles.

I have no love for the clips or jordan in particular, but Woj missed the mark big time on this one.  He is just propagating the casual fan's stereotypes of the NBA with this article.  Lazy journalism in my opinion.