Their sense of humor is so dry, they make the Mojave Desert seem like a rain forest. Tim Duncan's face tends to be so stoic, it's the focal point of a national advertising campaign. And if you haven't taken the time to get to know his coach on the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich, you might not realize Pop is one of the brightest and funniest guys in the NBA instead of the mad curmudgeon of the West, as he's perceived.
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| Derek Fisher is another Laker with a new home, surprisingly signing with the Warriors.(AP) |
Just imagine having to scale a mountain every day at work, then awakening one morning to the knowledge that the mountain has been moved!
That's what happened this week in the NBA when the Los Angeles Lakers shipped Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for three big flat-screen TVs and a compact car to be named later. OK, that's really not fair. Lamar Odom is a superb talent and Caron Butler and Brian Grant are great competitors. As for the future No. 1 draft choice, I'm sure there's an eighth-grader somewhere frothing at the mouth at the idea of sitting on the Lakers bench.
More important, O'Neal is no longer the obstacle that must be surmounted by the rugged Western Conference teams now that Kobe Bryant got his wish to have the Lakers built around him.
Sure, this version will make the playoffs -- maybe. The ultimate irony would be if the Lakers didn't and the Los Angeles Clippers, the team Bryant flirted with as a free agent, did.
That's not the point. The Spurs, who went into the tank in the second round of the playoffs against O'Neal and the Lakers after taking a 2-0 lead in the second round, now are the clear favorites to win the West.
Not only do they have the now smiling face of Duncan, they re-signed Manu Ginobili, added much needed shooting and ball-handling with Brent Barry, and have a leg up on everyone in attracting Karl Malone if his knee proves to be sound enough for him to take one more shot at earning that elusive championship ring.
Then there's the window opening for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings, and soon the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and, in a year or two, the Denver Nuggets.
But it's the incredibly consistent Spurs who are know filled with the knowledge that the only team that has eliminated them in the postseason the past six years (other than 2000, when Duncan was out with a knee injury) has been the Shaq Diesel-driven Lakers.
Not only is O'Neal gone from the Lakers, but so is Derek Fisher, the tough little guard with the dead-eye jumper who always seemed to be the voice of reason in a locker room filled with riddles wrapped in mystery.
Fisher checked out to join the Golden State Warriors in a move that was surprising. Fisher -- or even Barry or Troy Hudson (who re-signed with Minnesota) -- figured to be the final piece to the Rockets puzzle. And yet, they'll be tough, too, now that Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue (plus unproven second-year guard Reece Gaines) join Yao Ming, Jim Jackson and Mo Taylor. At least coach Jeff Van Gundy hopes this mix will be an improvement over the scatterbrains of Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato, now the problem of Johnny Davis in Orlando.
The Indiana Pacers, so close to the Pistons in the Eastern finals despite a rash of injuries, will be better, too. They unloaded the headache of Al Harrington's urge to be a starter and added Stephen Jackson, an official heir apparent to Reggie Miller. Not only does Jackson bring his sometimes superlative streak shooting, but he makes them a much better defensive team on the perimeter.
Unless Heat president Pat Riley and O'Neal are magnets without (salary cap) money, the Heat just won't be equipped to beat either of those teams. And nobody else in the East is even close, now that the New Jersey Nets conceded they just didn't want to spend enough money to keep All-Star forward Kenyon Martin. So he joins Carmelo Anthony, Nene, Marcus Camby and Andre Miller to make the Nuggets serious contenders in the West if they can find the money to add one more serious perimeter player.
And that's not to mention Carlos Boozer shocking the rapidly improving Cleveland Cavaliers, coercing them into not giving him a qualifying offer, then, instead of taking the handshake $41 million deal the Cavs were ready to give him, skipping town for $68 million and the Utah Jazz. That turn of events leaves the Cavs searching for answers they figured to already have and no longer serious contenders.
Meanwhile, coach Jerry Sloan nearly spun a miracle with the no-name Jazz last season, just a game out of the playoffs. Adding Boozer and Okur doesn't guarantee anything, except they have a lot more size and are better equipped to compete up front in the West and add more victories that should get them back into the postseason -- where they had been for 20 years in a row until the spring of 2004.
Of course, all of this is subject to change as the summer transition game continues. We know New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas continues to be the auctioneer extraordinaire, still seeking a buyer for Kurt Thomas.
Furthermore, what will happen to Antoine Walker, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ray Allen, all in the final year of $14 million deals with teams where the money doesn't make sense?
And we've still got free-agent center Erick Dampier itching for a sign-and-trade from the Warriors to up his ante, as is also the case for Jamal Crawford, Stromile Swift and now, perhaps, Darius Miles. Keep an eye on veteran free agents Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Greg Ostertag, Robert Horry and Wesley Person, with Person, Kukoc and Horry perfect players for the Heat if they are willing to take below their market value for a chance to win.
That's what we're looking at as Week 1 of free-agency passes. Make sure you look closely, because you may never see Duncan and Popovich giddy again without the benefit of champagne flowing.
