What if by Simmons

[dude1394]

I don't know why but I was re-reading some Bill Simmons articles. This one just cracked me up so much I thought I would share it. Especially the Forest Gump reference.

1. What if Memphis landed LeBron instead of Cleveland?

Take a trip back to the 2003 lottery with me.

LeBron James

Imagine if LeBron James had ended up in Memphis. We're sure Jerry West can.
We're down to the final two teams. If Memphis draws the No. 2 pick, it goes to Detroit because of the stupid Otis Thorpe trade the Grizzlies made five years before. If the Griz draw No. 1, they get LeBron. Arguably, it's the greatest hit-or-miss moment in the history of professional sports -- like going on "Deal or No Deal," getting down to two suitcases and having a 50/50 chance of winning $500 million.

Well, we know how it turned out: Cleveland got the pick, Memphis got nothing, and eventually, a heartbroken West retired and disappeared off the face of the earth, presumably to spend the next few years playing Russian roulette in Southeast Asia like Chris Walken in "The Deer Hunter." (Sorry to throw consecutive movie references at you, but the situation demanded two of them and that's that.) Now look at this domino effect over the next five years if Memphis gets that pick:

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Good article. West's entire career in Memphis surrounded that one pick.

[dirno2000]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I don't know why but I was re-reading some Bill Simmons articles.

Trying to find out what he said about Avery?

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

Trying to find out what he said about Avery?

Maybe(subconciously), but I think I was just going there from the top page.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

12. Dirk Nowitzki
Upon further review, Nowitzki's Chappelle-like summer voyage to Australia was a bad omen: His numbers are down in five relevant categories (points, rebounds and FT/FG/3-point percentage), he's putting up his worst numbers in eight seasons, and we can safely say there has been residual damage from the '06 Finals and '07 playoffs. He's just not the same guy anymore. He's not.

Here's the weird thing: Other than Nick Anderson (who wasn't a superstar like Dirk), I can't remember another good player floundering in his prime purely because of emotional baggage from a couple of tough losses. For instance, Magic Johnson choked three different times in the '84 Finals and bounced back with a monster '85 season. Isiah Thomas threw away the '87 playoffs on the Bird/DJ steal and came back stronger than ever. Scottie Pippen's infamous migraine swung Game 7 of the '90 Bulls-Pistons series to Detroit and led to a summer of Scottie questions; all the attention toughened him and turned him into a Dream Teamer. Well, what the hell happened to Dirk? What happened to his edge? Why isn't he taking the demise of his superstardom a little more personally? He's like Cole Trickle at the 63-minute mark of "Days of Thunder" right now.

11. Carlos Boozer
You're saying, "Wait a second, Boozer ahead of Dirk???" Well, here's the list of forwards who averaged a 25-12 in one season since the ABA/NBA merger: Barkley, Duncan, Malone. That's it. In a related story, Boozer is averaging a 25-12 through 20 games and shooting 57 percent from the field. And he's three years younger than Nowitzki. And unlike Dirk, he actually has cracked a smile in the past six months. Any more questions?

Simmons was pretty damn wrong there. Dirk wasn't as damaged as made out to be. But he looked damaged because The Little Colonel wanted Josh to be the focal point.