Kobe Bryant reportedly wanted to leave Lakers to join Jordan with the Wizards

Check out the original article, from Philly.com, here.
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Since being traded to the team on draft day in 1996, Kobe Bryant has been a loyal life-long Laker.

Bryant even recently compared his loyalty to the Lakers to the Titanic, stating:

“If this was the Titanic, I’m going down with the ship. I’m not jumping off.”

Bryant’s devotion to the only team he has played for professionally is evident. He could have left L.A. to chase championships elsewhere in the twilight of his career, instead of toiling around on lottery-bound Laker teams, and blowing out his body in the process. After five championships, and countless individual accolades, no one would have blamed him.

Bryant didn’t bolt however. His Los Angeles Loyalty – and a fat contract – kept him in purple and gold, and at this point, it seems quite clear that Kobe Bryant will retire, whenever he decides to, as a Los Angeles Laker.

NBA tank watch 2015

The race for last place - and the top pick in the 2015 NBA Draft - is on.

(Click to enlarge)

Chart via SB Nation NBA

Kobe Bryant considering retirement

Check out the full story, from Philly.com, here.
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Kobe Bryant has enjoyed an illustrious NBA career that has included five championships, 16 All-Star appearances, scoring titles, and an MVP award, among numerous other accolades. He has been at the peak of his profession for almost two decades, and he will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the game’s greats.

No matter how great however, all careers must come to a close, and the lifetime Laker is reportedly considering calling it quits after the season.

Sixers front office not sold on Michael Carter-Williams?

The Sixers have seemingly never been quite sold on the reigning Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams. There were rumors that the team tried to trade him on draft day, and although no trade ever occurred, the rumors have never totally died down. 

Most recently, the rumors received a resurgence in ESPN NBA Insider Chad Ford's weekly NBA chat. 

In response to a question asking if GM Sam Hinkie would again try to trade Carter-Williams, Ford replied: 

"I've heard a lot of rumblings from GMs that Carter-Williams is available. There are some in ownership and in the front office, though not all, that don't see him as a long-term piece of the puzzle. There was a lot of chatter that direction before the draft and in the past few weeks I know several teams have had exploratory discussions with the Sixers. I think the challenge right now is that the Sixers will want a lot in return and MCW's play, to date this season, hasn't warranted multiple first round picks for him. That makes him tough to deal." 

Yes, Carter-Williams is 'available' for the right price, as are most players, but that doesn't mean he is going to be moved. The fact that Ford says that some in the front office are not sold on MC-W long-term is more telling. It seems that they would want a player that are completely confident in, and Carter-Williams may not be that guy. 

Siri is a Knicks fan

Like any good NBA fan with an iPhone, I asked Siri who its* favorite NBA team was. Its answer was pretty comical:

*I refuse to give Siri a gender. That thing is a robot, not a him/her.

Robert Covington proving to be a keeper for the Sixers

Check out the original article, from Philly.com, here. 

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A large part of this season for the Sixers is about testing out talent and seeing which players may fit in the franchise’s future. In Robert Covington, the Sixers may have found such a player.

Covington, an undrafted forward who the Sixers called up the Grand Rapids Drive of the D-League in early November, began contributing on the court, and making his mark on the team, almost immediately.

Image from bleacherreport.com

Covington’s long-range shooting was the early attraction, and remains his calling card, as he provides the Sixers with a deep-threat they have long needed. ‘Ro-Co’, as he is referred to by the Philadelphia faithful, is currently 11^th overall in the entire NBA in three-point field goal percentage (42%). He is also 13^th in the NBA in threes made per game with 2.2, and is currently on a 20-game streak with at least one three pointer made. 

He’s deadly as a trailer on a fast break, and his ability to consistently knock down threes has opened up the floor for some of the team’s penetrating players like Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten. But, it’s not just his shooting stroke that has made his play so promising, as other areas of his game are expanding over the course of the season as well.

His versatility is valuable, as he has slid up and down the lineup all season. He is a multi-faceted forward that can play multiple positions – he has played shooting guard, small forward, and power forward at different times throughout the season – and also defend multiple positions. He is quickly becoming comfortable with the team’s defensive rotations, as evidenced by his six steals in the Sixers win over the Nets on Friday.

Lately, Covington has also shown an improving ability to put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket, a great compliment to his deadly long-range game. He is also a serviceable rebounder, averaging 4.5 per game.

His shot is already a weapon, and at 24, ‘RC3’ still has ample opportunity to grow and expand upon his already-impressive game. In Covington, it seems the Sixers have found a player that can be part of the franchise’s future.  

Sam Hinkie picked an inopportune time to yawn

Sam Hinkie has taken a lot of heat for his selected rebuilding route for the Sixers. Some of the criticism may be legitimate, some overblown, but there has been no hiding the Sixers' struggles over the past two seasons.

Hinkie is a man that doesn't make public appearances often, opting instead to do his work from the shadows. Some around Philadelphia have even taken to calling Hinkie 'Waldo' because he is often difficult to locate, and because he may have a resemblance to the striped sweater-wearer. 

All of that is to say: Sam Hinkie picked an inopportune time to yawn, while watching his Sixers play the Nets in Brooklyn; a game that they would eventually pull out. 

Of course he was going to be caught on camera, and his yawn was followed by the expected refrain of 'Even Sam Hinkie gets bored watching his own team' comments. 

Sometimes a dude's gotta yawn. 

In reality, Hinkie needs a little more time at the helm before his stint with the Sixers can be characterized as successful or non-successful. 

Jason Kidd dismisses Michael Carter-Williams' shooting struggles

Jason Kidd is a player that Michael Carter-Williams found himself being compared to prior to his selection by the Sixers in the 2013 NBA Draft. There were obvious similarities between the two, including solid size for the point guard position, court vision, and some shaky shooting.

The comparisons continued as Michael Carter-Williams took home the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award last May, just as Kidd had done back in ’95 (he shared the award with Grant Hill). Carter-Williams took home the hardware despite his shooting struggles; struggles that Kidd is very familiar with.  

Kidd, the current coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, shot an anemic 38% from the field in his rookie campaign, shy of even Carter-Williams’ 40%. Kidd’s shooting slipped even further when he took it long-range, as he shot only 27% from behind the arc in his rookie season. After that rookie campaign, not many people expected Kidd to become one of the league’s most prolific three-point shooters, but today Kidd sits as the NBA’s fourth-leading three-point maker all-time.

He was never one of the league’s best shooters, but after a shaky start, he improved over time to the level of respectability (35% for his career from deep) and coupled with the other strengths of his game such as passing and rebounding, he was able to develop into one of the league’s premier point guards.

Kidd was in Philadelphia with his Bucks on Wednesday, and was asked about the Sixers young point guard. Kidd revealed that he was not too concerned about the reigning Rookie of the Year’s shooting struggles.

“He’s a guy that can fill up the stat sheet,” Kidd said of Carter-Williams. “He understands the game. Shooting will come.”

Kidd was able to excel in the league, despite an inconsistent shot, especially early on, and maybe he sees the same potential in Carter-Williams. Like Kidd, Carter-Williams can impact the game in a variety of ways, and also like Kidd, he will greatly benefit from improving upon his shooting stroke.

Andrew Wiggins could windmill dunk in 8th grade, was nicknamed 'Junior Jordan'

Andrew Wiggins is athletically gifted; that's safe to say. The first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft is coming into his own as a perimeter player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he is the early favorite to take home the Rookie of the Year award.

Wiggins' professional play is beginning to match the hype that has followed him since high school. Considering that Wiggins could windmill dunk in 8th grade (!!!), the hype makes some sense.

Image via @NBA_reddit

That's right, according to Wiggins' recently-surfaced 8th grade yearbook photo, the multi-faceted forward could throw down a windmill as a fresh-faced 14 year old.

Under most memorable moment, Wiggins wrote: "Doing a windmill dunk for the first time, setting a record for track at Regionals, and meeting all of my friends."

What a guy.  

A couple other interesting tidbits from Wiggins' yearbook photo:

His dream job was being an NBA player; always cool to see someone realize their dreams. Also, his nickname was Junior Jordan; dude has had expectations for quite a while.

So far, he's living up to them.

Rick Ross gets Miami Heat tattoo on his face

Some rappers enjoy getting tattoos on their face. I guess not having to worry about your appearance in an interview is one of the perks of the job.

Miami-based rapper Rick Ross has been a long-time Miami Heat fan, and wants the world to know that he is still repping his team even after the departure of 4-time NBA MVP LeBron James. Instead of getting a new jersey, or re-upping on some season tickets, Ricky Rozay decided to go skin-deep to show his affinity for the Heat.

Image via sbnation.com

Kevin Durant honors Stuart Scott with his shoes

Stuart Scott meant a whole lot to a lot of different people for a myriad of reasons. His passing leaves a void in the world of sports media that will not be filled.

Figures from all over the sports community and beyond have honored Scott in their own ways over the past few days, and Kevin Durant chose to pay tribute with his shoes. 

Image from ESPN

"Boo-yah. RIP the great Stuart Scott," Durant scrawled across his Nikes. Durant, like millions of others, grew up watching Scott on the SportsCenter set, looking nothing short of thrilled to be doing the work that he was doing. 

Scott was a true pioneer in the world of sports media, and he will be missed. 

Luc Mbah a Moute working on his three-ball

Check out the original article from Philly.com, here.
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The Sixers have been shooting a lot of three’s under Brett Brown this season as they are currently 10^th league-wide with 23.9 three-pointers attempted per game.

The team has not been making their attempts at quite as high of a rate however, converting on only 7.1 out of the nearly 24 attempts; good for last in the league at 29.7%. This makes the Sixers the only team in the league to shoot below 30% from long distance.

Brown has discussed his three-point policy publicly, saying that he allows players to test their stroke in games if they have been putting in the work in practice. This is how you get Henry Sims attempting 17 threes on the season when he has only taken two before in his career, and someone like Brandon Davies taking 30 threes in only 20 total games with the team.

Curren$y and ESPN's Michael Smith were middle school classmates

Curren$y has been one on my favorite (and one of the most consistent) MC's for a while now. His music reflects his personality perfectly, and well, it is just funny to picture him being one-time classmates with straight-laced ESPN personality Michael Smith, who was infamously called an 'Uncle Tom' by Hugh Douglas.

Wonder if Smith responded to Curren$y's melodic rhymes about women, weed, and low-riders with obscure NFL statics. I bet he did.

Image from Curren$y's Instagram

NBA scoring titles do not often = NBA titles

Check out the original article from Philly.com, here.
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Over the course of the Sixers’ recent rebuild, I have had many people tell me very matter-of-factly that the team needs to secure a scorer. Carter-Williams is quickly cited as the distributor, Noel as the paint protector, and Embiid as the mystery man, leaving the spot of designated ‘scorer’ inherently open.

While having players capable of scoring consistently is of critical importance’s to a team’s success, the addition of a ‘scorer’ alone is far from a championship guarantee.

As the team builds itself back into a contender, they will need to add a couple quality perimeter players that can consistently generate offense and create their own scoring opportunities. All championship-level teams have such players, and it is an area where the Sixers, as currently constructed, are sorely lacking.