The NBA brass is expected to celebrate in earnest the opening of training camp next week following an action-packed summer of fingerprints, mug shots and all-Kobe, all the time on the cable news outlets.
Any week in which an NBA player was not charged with being an idiot eventually became cause to give thanks inside the league offices on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The lesson, dispensed each year to NBA newcomers, is an old one, cast this time with a sense of urgency following the fall of Kobe Bryant.
If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone, starting with LeBron James, the flavor of the moment who might lead the Cavaliers to an awe-evoking 30 victories this season.
The wise are demanding grown-up responses from the pampered and coddled who function in a subculture of arrested development.
The hope of the wise goes against the highly combustible combination of money, fame and youth.
The chance of combustion increases with the free time of summer.
There are no practices, no games and no travel commitments in the summer, just an abundance of time to relax at the beach before making “contact” with a woman who has a real estate contract in hand.
A check-out time is inevitably tricky stuff if you are Jerry Stackhouse.
Reports of the first hamstring pull next week qualifies as good news in this environment.
The talk of the Lakers making a run on the 72 victories of the 1996 Bulls dissipated along about the time the 19-year-old woman from Colorado left Bryant’s hotel room.
Rumors, crazy plots and the high-octane verbiage of the talking heads have ensued.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks in a moment of league-disapproved candor, suggested the legal mess just might be good for business, considering the upside-down nature of the business.
Karl Malone and Gary Payton held up their new jerseys in front of photographers before calibrating the demanding travel schedule ahead of Bryant this season. The Zen master is going to need his strongest dose of incense ever.
The Lakers have been the biggest winners since the Spurs defeated the Nets in the NBA Finals in June, notwithstanding the prospect of Bryant being obligated to work two courts.
Shaquille O’Neal finally came to the conclusion that less is more in his case and hired a personal trainer instead of a trial lawyer seeking damages from Taco Bell. O’Neal has endorsed the fast-food restaurant, arguably to his ever-expanding detriment.
If O’Neal becomes an active member of the Lakers again, the rest of the NBA is left to squabble over the crumbs.
The Nets, in particular, have found redemption with this approach the last two seasons. Their resurgence is based on good or bad geography, depending on your point of view of the equal-opportunity Eastern Conference.
Michael Jordan, in two seasons with the Wizards, was unable to solve the modest challenge of the East.
Washington still has a Jordan to kick around, if Eddie fails to keep the Wizards in the playoff hunt.
The free-agent signing of Gilbert Arenas, the re-signing of Stackhouse and the arrival of Ernie Grunfeld allowed owner Abe Pollin to broker a truce of sorts with long-suffering fans of the franchise.
Pollin insists he is not out to lunch, which came as a shock to the old Jordan and Ted Leonsis.
If Kwame Brown feels inclined to exercise his right to be somebody in the post, the Wizards just might rise above the initial reports of their demise. His third season in the NBA is his first with genuine expectations. Plus, Brown won’t have the tag-team presence of the old Jordan and Doug Collins pulling on him.
The Wizards are aided, as always, by their place among the junior varsity contingents of the East. The Nets, as the best of the rest, live with the suspicion that a playoff berth would not necessarily be theirs in the West.
As the eighth seed in the West last season, the Suns were largely irrelevant, despite the talents of Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire.
See, the impending start-up of the NBA leads to a G-rated break in the XXX-rated goings-on of the summer.
In that spirit, here’s an early power rating of the NBA’s top 10 teams: Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks, Kings, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Rockets, Suns, Nets and Pacers.
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