MVN - Most Valuable Network

Paul Pierce and the best player in the world

Paul Pierce is the best player in the world, if you don’t believe me, just ask him This is in response to the publics perception that the current best player in the world resides in Los Angeles, none other then Kobe Bryant. I thought the best players in the world were in Beijing representing the United States in the Olympics, but according to Pierce he is the best. That’s kind of humorous, because most fans would agree that he’s not even the best player on his team. That distinction would go to Kevin Garnett.

Pierce did an interview with a Spanish publication and was asked if he thought that Kobe Bryant was the best player in the NBA. Pierce stated that he was and also said, “There’s a line that separates having confidence and being conceited. I don’t cross that line, but I have a lot of confidence in myself.” The next day, he was asked again and retorted, “That’s what I said. I am a confident player and a lot of people might look at it like ’Oh, another cocky attitude,’ but I don’t look at it that way, I have an opinion, I have a right to have one and that’s the way I feel. I felt I’ve played against the best over the years and felt right now that I’m the best player in the world.”

I guess his opinion is that he’s not cocky or conceited, but he misses one major point. Kobe doesn’t need to do an interview and proclaim his greatness. Fans, writers and NBA enthusiasts have given Kobe the moniker of ‘best player in the NBA’. Many players, coaches and General Managers have also said that Kobe is the best player in the league. I can’t remember anyone, outside of Pierce, proclaiming him even in the argument. Once again, he’s not even the best player on his team. If it’s not being conceited or cocky to declare yourself the best player on the planet, it certainly is selfish and shows that Pierce feels that he needs to promote himself, even when most NBA fans feel that Kevin Garnett, not Pierce, is the best player in Boston.

So although Kobe is considered the best player in the league by many; it’s also obvious that at any given moment you could say that LeBron is the best and have a valid argument. After all, when LeBron is nailing his outside shot, there is no one better, not even Kobe. In fact, if there is a player that could challenge Jordan for best player ever in his career, it would be LeBron James, not Kobe Bryant. Excuse me while I put on my “Full Metal Jacket’ for making that comment, but I believe it to be true. Paul Pierce, lucky to make the Hall of Fame, forget about being the best player anywhere, except in your own mind.

Lakers sign NBDL standout Dwayne Mitchell

The Lakers signed free agent Dwayne Mitchell out of the NBDL. The former Louisiana-Lafayette star had played for the Lakers summer league entry and averaged 6.7 points per game in 15 minutes of action per game. Mitchell is a very athletic 6’2 guard, who is as strong as an ox. He weighs in at around 215 and has the build of an NFL running back.

The terms of Mitchell’s deal were undisclosed, and he will need a strong pre-season just to make the club. Skill wise, Mitchell is the kind of slashing player that is always taking the ball to the hoop. He’s strong enough to bully smaller guards down low, but lacks the jumper to keep them honest. He has a nice FG%, but his free throws and three point shooting need vast improvement. He’s like a smaller Corey Maggette that shoots bricks from the outside. He also does a great job of going to the rack and using his strength to ward off contact and finish, sometimes using multiple head and shot fakes to do so. This will be more difficult with the increased athleticism he will face in the pros, but the guy is simply put, a pure athlete.

Look for him to challenge incumbents Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar in practice and work hard on his game to stick. His best teacher will probably be fellow Louisiana product Fisher. What Mitchell needs is more arc and touch on his jump shot. Derek Fisher has made himself into one of the better outside shooters in the NBA, by adopting a high arcing jumper that seems to fall out of the sky like rain. Mitchell needs to practice shooting his free throws out of a phone booth, like Derek does, because with a reliable jumper, the kid would stick in the NBA easy.

Mitchell entered the NBA draft in 2006 and went un-drafted largely because he was misdiagnosed with a heart ailment. He wound up playing over seas before resurfacing in the NBDL last year, where he was an All Star putting up 20 points a game. With a jumper, he makes the rotation in a few years, without it, he’s not even in the league; overall a good signing.

Earthquake in Cali and Artest to the Rockets

Having been born and raised in New York, my knowledge of earthquakes is minimal as I moved to Cali after the famed Northridge quake.  But right before lunch today, I was walking into my office when all of a sudden the building started to tremble and shake a little.  I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I looked into my office and my Kobe Bryant bobble head was doing the Merton Hanks Chicken Dance on my desk.  It lasted about 20 seconds, and was a weird deal.  I’m in a 12 story building, so it shook a little bit, but it was the unknown that was the most intimidating, as no one knows how long the shaking will continue.

The 5.4-magnitude quake stirred up Southern California, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage.  The experts called it minor, and perhaps it was, but it certainly got my attention.  “The earthquake had about 1 percent of the energy of the Northridge quake”, said Thomas Heaton, director of the earthquake engineering and research laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.  “People have forgotten, I think, what earthquakes feel like,” said Kate Hutton, a seismologist at Caltech. “So I think we should probably look at it as an earthquake drill. … It’s a drill for the `Big One’ that will be coming some day.”

Let’s hope that day is a long time from now!  Moving on to hoops, it appears that the Rockets have acquired the services of Ron Artest for Bobby Jackson and Donte Greene.  It’s not a done deal, but rumors are swirling that it will happen on August 14th.  By league rules, Greene cannot be traded until 30 days after he signs his initial contract and he was signed July14th.  Houston who already has a tenacious defense adds the leagues best perimeter defender, and also added the college games best defender in Joey Dorsey on draft day, so the West just got tougher once again.

The Lakers had been tying to add Artest to the mix, but didn’t want to part with Lamar Odom or take on the Kenny Thomas contract.  That coupled with the Maloof’s not wanting to help the Lakers, made this deal impossible.

Sasha Vujacic stays with the Lakers

Sasha Vujacic resigned with the Lakers yesterday for three years at five million a year.  In the last few days it was rumored that Sasha might be heading back to Europe for the tax-free dollars Euro clubs have been dangling at American basketball players.  In the end, he valued the Laker organization and the chance to win an NBA championship as the determining factors in his decision.

The Lakers came dangerously close to losing Sasha, because of financial issues due to the luxury tax and the tax free dollars European team can offer.  With the Lakers combined salaries for the 2008/2009 season at right about 75 million; every dollar offered to Vujacic would be a dollar for dollar match, with the matched funds sent to the NBA office in New York.  The luxury tax is something owners avoid like the plague, not because they don’t want to pay the money, but because it makes bad business sense.  It’s like going to an ATM and taking out twenty bucks and incurring a twenty dollar fee.  Most multi-millionaires and billionaires have a lot of money because of abstaining from bad business practices that simply piss their money away.

The sad part for NBA owners is that if the European teams want to acquire players.  They can put together financial packages that NBA owners over the luxury cap threshold can’t financially compete with.  Let’s say Team Euro offered Sasha a 5 year 40 million dollar deal and Sasha wanted the Lakers to match financially from a net income perspective.

Well 8 million a year tax-free is the equivalent of 14 million or more taxed dollars at the higher tax bracket.  So the Lakers would have to offer at least 14 million a year to make the net income the same, right?  Adding insult to injury, the Lakers are over the luxury tax and if they had offered the 14 million to match the offer, they would incur a 14 million dollar invoice from the NBA for a grand total of 28 million a year to retain a player, who has received a 8 million dollar a year offer from a European team.

One can also argue that if the luxury tax didn’t exist that the Lakers would have retained Rony Turiaf, who will be missed.  If Jerry Buss is willing to pay an 80 million dollar payroll and a 5 million dollar luxury tax bill, he surely would have kept Turiaf, if the luxury tax was abolished, which I believe it should.