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.

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.

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.

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.

His presence on the floor is another story. From his gut-wrenching life-story of his heart surgery to his ascension up the roster, Turiaf was a player that all Laker’s fans admired. During the season he came in like a spark plug and ignited the Laker’s both offensively and defensively. But as the playoffs came along his playing time and productivity dwindled. He wasn’t even a factor in the NBA finals. That’s probably one of the key factors that made Mitch Kupchak ignore the Warriors offer. 

Don Nelson will certainly get the best out of Turiaf. But I don’t think Turiaf can find a lot of playing time in a loaded Warriors roster. If Turiaf can make a name for himself throughout the season, he can get on Nelson’s good side and probably vie some playing time away from Andris Biedrins. After all, how much better is Biedrins than Turiaf? One has to also factor in the talent of Brandon Wright this year. He is a Don Nelson project and will certainly take up a lot of playing time. I just hope Turiaf doesn’t get caught into the Nelson doghouse. Once your in there, your going to have a tough time getting out.  Remember Baron Davis in the last game of the season? Nelson sat Davis for the entire second-half primarily because Nelson has issues with his own ego. Turiaf is not that kind of person but you never know what can happen.

Best of luck to Turiaf and we hope you can make a name for yourself in Golden State (just not against us). 

On Monday the NBA issued this statement:

“The government had complete access to Tim Donaghy’s phone records and thoroughly investigated this matter, including conducting an interview of referee Scott Foster,” the statement said. “The government has said that they have found no evidence of criminal conduct aside from that of Mr. Donaghy. Once again, the only criminal conduct is that of Mr. Donaghy.”

That would be fine, but when Scott Foster was asked by Fox if he was being investigated by the NBA, the government or anyone else, his response was, “Not that I know of.”

In a story published Monday on Fox News’ Web site, they reported that the majority of the phone calls lasted no more than two minutes and occurred before and after games Donaghy officiated, and these were the games he admitted to betting on.  Am I the only one who thinks something is wrong?

What’s really amazing is that the NBA wants Donaghy to pay the league back 1.4 million dollars in restitution for his actions.  Initially the number was one million, but outside counsel Paul Schectman said the new figure was because, “We sort of estimated $1 million and he submitted a response that said, ‘Prove it. Document it.’ So we did. Initially, the commissioner’s [David Stern] view was $1 million is a big enough number. But once he [Lauro] wanted the math done, we sat down and tried to be pretty precise about it.”

This might be in response to a June 10 filing where Lauro accused the league of retaliating against Donaghy in demanding the $1 million restitution, claiming it “came immediately after Mr. Donaghy raised issues concerning the Government’s conduct in this case, and the possible influence exerted by the NBA.”  Lauro also said in the same publicly filed court papers that six other officials had manipulated the outcomes of four NBA games, including two playoff games.

My guess is, if Donaghy reveals anymore information, the number will jump to 2 million.  If Scott Foster and other referees weren’t even interviewed, asking for that kind of money would be fraudulent, wouldn’t it?

Donaghy’s lawyer, John Lauro has asked U.S. District Court Judge Carol Amon to make the NBA turn over these documents from its internal investigation, in order to address the issue of monetary restitution. Oral arguments will be heard next Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Brooklyn.  I could imagine how much independent investigator Lawrence Pedowitz charged the NBA to do this investigation.  Only A-Rod makes a higher per diem.

With OJ Mayo, Javaris Crittenton and Mike Conley in the starting line-up, it’s a wonder the Lakers were able to win.  The Grizzlies had 18 turnovers and only 8 assists, and didn’t have the cohesiveness displayed by the Lakers.  Which is surprising, considering that not one player on the Laker roster is a recent draft pick.

The Lakers next summer league game is against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday at 8PM.  Go to nba.com and you can watch the game for free.

Sun Yue is a member of the Chinese National team, and the Lakers knew when they drafted him that he would not be available until after the 2008 Olympic Games, as that’s his first priority. Sun Yue has a tremendous handle and is known for being a world class distributor. With Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlin on the roster, his ability to find people should be on display in Beijing. At 6’9 he is more of a guard prospect, but if he fills out, maybe the three position is where he winds up. Keep in mind that this is a guy who averaged 2.5 blocks, 1.9 steals and 7 rebounds a game, so although the NBA is more athletic, Sun Yue clearly has an all around game.

Yi Li is also a great all around player that just needs to get stronger. A few years ago he was touted as the Chinese AK-47 (Andre Kirilinko), because of the similarities in their game. He hasn’t played in any of the Laker summer league games yet, but did get in a scrimmage the Lakers had with the Clippers summer league team. He was sent onto the court in the third quarter and asked to guard Clipper first round pick Eric Gordon from Indiana. In six minutes of play neither player scored, as Li was all over him, playing for his NBA life.

What is most exciting about Chinese basketball is the desire and passion they have for this great game. Since Yao Ming entered the NBA, basketball has been accelerating at an unrestrained rate. Bottom line is every kid plays the game, and they are playing defense, passing the ball and increasing their skills in a game that demands it. Look for the Olympics to increase the exposure of the Chinese National team and for the game to get even hotter.

Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers appear to be sold on Chinese basketball and intent on drafting the better players available. With Southern California’s large Asian population, this makes for a logical choice for the players as well as the Lakers. Also a special shout out to Stone Law of China for emailing me about Yi Li and asking for an update. Stone has translated a few of my articles into Chinese language, and posted them on hoops sites for Chinese basketball fans to read. Thank you very much!

One final note, in December, Nike released the Nike Zoom Kobe III for Asia release only. It has the Laker color scheme, and the only way you could got a pair in the US, is if you went to the Kobe Event at the House of Hoops, which was December 22nd in good ole Harlem, NY.

Many years ago the Knicks signed restricted free agent Kevin McHale to a whopper of an offer sheet.  It included no trade and opt-out clauses, and a lot of money up front.  Red Auerbach not only matched the offer, but then signed Rory Sparrow, Marvin Webster and Sly Williams (Three Knick players) to contracts valued at two times their worth.  The Knicks lost millions in the deal.  If the Clippers want to be respected around the league, they need to stick it to the Sixer’s and make a big offer for Andre Igoudola.  Include an opt-out clause after two years and a no trade clause, just to stick it to Philly.  That’s what championship teams do.

The Knicks turned down an overture from the Clips to trade Zach Randolph to LA for a second round pick.  If the Knicks were looking to dump salary, this would have been a perfect opportunity, but, the D’Antoni campo feels that Randolph’s value can’t get any lower and he might thrive in the up-tempo offense.  Look for this trade to be re-visited, especially if the Clippers don’t add anyone significant in the next two weeks.

News out of Chicago has Jerry Reinsdorf personally handling the free-agent negotiations with Luol Deng and his agent Jason Levine.  Why John Paxson is out of the mix doesn’t make any sense, but lets see what develops as perhaps Paxson is busy trying to handle other trade scenarios.  The Bulls have some moveable pieces and Paxson needs to pull the trigger and make a deal.  Maybe Reinsdorf feels that Deng is un-touchable and needs to be re-signed, while Paxson is peddling the likes of Hinrich, Gordon and Nocioni for an impact player.  If he adds a couple of picks to that triumvirate, it really is an attractive offer.

The Lakers are considering a Lamar Odom to Sacramento for Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas, or at least it’s been getting a lot of air play. Personally, I can’t see the Maloof’s doing anything to help the Lakers, so I doubt this deal goes down. Reports out of LA also suggest that Rony Turiaf’s offer sheet with Golden State will not be matched, something I disagree with.  They are working very had to sign Sasha Vujacic and don’t want to pony up the luxury tax cash to keep Turiaf, a mistake in my book.

Two of my favorite players that are not getting much love in free agency are Quinton Ross of the Clippers and Matt Barnes of the Golden State Warriors.  Ross is a great defender that is improving every year on the offensive end.  If a team is looking for a guy that can stick shooting guards and small forwards and not demand the ball or shots; he’s a great option.  For the millionth time, if defense wins championships, why doesn’t anyone respect and pay the defensive player?

Matt Barnes is another defensive energy player that has been ignored in free agency.  The Warriors have already stated that he will not be back with them next season.  For all the teams looking to max-out their MLE on James Posey, they should take a closer look at Matt Barnes.  All he needs is the playing time to take his game to the next level.  The team that signs him immediately becomes a tougher more aggressive team, as Matt leaves it all on the court.

The big winners in the NBA draft were the New Jersey Nets and the Houston Rockets, as both teams added nice pieces and more importantly strong value pieces.  Teams like the Bulls and Heat added the best players in the draft in Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, but these are picks a five year old could have made.  I thought that Houston adding Joey Dorsey and Donte Green was nothing short of brilliant as they parlayed Nicholas Batum into a swap for both players.  Batum had been ranked very high months before the draft, but consistently fell as he did not have a great year in Europe.  Portland had a ton of picks and only a few roster spots, so they are perfectly willing to wait for Batum to hopefully develop in Europe, while Dorsey and Green provide immediate help for the Rockets.

I had both Dorsey and Greene among my personal list of players I though would have a big impact in the NBA.  For argument purposes here they are, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Russell Westbrook, Joe Alexander, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey, DeAndre Jordan, Donte Greene, Jason Thompson, Sonny Weems, Patrick Ewing Jr. and DeMarcus Nelson.  Please don’t remind me that Nelson didn’t get drafted, because I’m well aware of it

The Nets selected Brook Lopez in the first round, and Ryan Anderson from California, with their first round pick from Dallas in the Jason Kidd trade.  Both players should contribute and be in the rotation as soon as next season.  Lopez was valued as high as the third pick and Anderson led the Pac-10 in scoring.  However, the real caveat was at pick number 40, when they took the best shooting guard in the draft, Chris Douglas-Roberts.  How he lasted till 40 is beyond comprehension.  He has a great mentor in Vince Carter, and because of that will have time to grow his game.  In three years, many will wonder why he lasted so long.

As of right now, it’s rather quiet in the NBA, but there are still some big names out there that could change the landscape.  Josh Smith, Andre Igoudola, Emeka Okafor, Monte Ellis and Luol Deng are still available for the right price, stay tuned.

After going through the NBA rosters, I realized that the tough guy left the NBA right about the same time as Charles Oakley did. In the old days, everyone had an enforcer; guys like Maurice Lucas, Rick Mahorn, and Wes Unseld were on every NBA roster. To a lesser degree Truck Robinson, Ken (The Animal) Bannister and San Antonio’s bruise brothers (Mark Olberding and Dave Corzine) were also gainfully employed. Now that David Stern has fixed the NBA, there is only one real tough guy left, and that is Ron Artest.

Ron was raised in the Queensbridge projects in New York, by his dad Ron Sr. and his mom Sarah. Ron Sr. is a Navy veteran and a former Golden Gloves boxer out of the Philadelphia area. He taught Ron Jr. how to box, hoping that the sweet science would keep him off the streets and out of trouble. Young Ron always had a volatile temper, and his dad feared that it would get his son into trouble, so he tried to discipline him through boxing. Ron Sr. wanted his son away from the drugs and violence that infested his neighborhood, but found out that the boxing element only intensified it.

At eight years old, young Ron had his first anger management class after putting his arms around another boy’s throat in a school cafeteria. The guidance counselor suggested basketball might be a better outlet for Ron’s emotions. Ron Sr. had this to say about his son, “Maybe it’s because of the neighborhood, some people have [a temper], and some people don’t. He’s never hurt anybody, never killed anybody. It’s just part of him. He doesn’t have a criminal or thug bone in his body.”

Ron Artest Jr. was just beginning to grow up, and had a difficult time with some of the realities that life would bring. Situations like his parents’ divorce and the death of his baby sister Quanisha from SIDS in 1995 only made it worse for young Ron, as who wouldn’t be emotionally scarred from similar tragedies.

So Ron Artest took his heart and soul and put it on a basketball court. He became one of the toughest most physical players to ever play the game. Ron developed a style of defense that no one wanted to play against. In college, he stayed local at St. John’s, and took them to the Elite Eight as a sophomore. Afterwards he declared for the NBA draft and was on the board when the Knicks were selecting. Every Knick fan in attendance was relishing the thought of Ron staying home, but it was not to be, as the Knicks selected Frederic Weiss from France with the pick.

Jeff Van Gundy later said that they were unsure how Ron would react to playing in New York, as being one of the deciding factors. At the time the Knicks had Latrell Sprewell playing the three and wanted to get on the European Center Express after Cleveland’s early success with Zydrunas Ilgauskus, who the Knicks passed on three years earlier. A mistake that has haunted the Knicks ever since.

Ron entered the NBA signed his first deal, and practically gave his money away to family and friends until he was nearly broke. To this day, he is yet to sign a contract that meets his very high skill level, but I expect that to change next summer when he is an un-restricted free agent.

As the Lakers pursue Ron Artest, there is an apparent divide as to whether they should or not. Some cite the brawl at Auburn Hills as the main reason they shouldn’t. How many people reading this article would not go after someone who douses them with a full cup of Coke thrown from close range?

All of Artest’s teammates like him a lot, and many such as Trent Hassell have credited him with helping them work on their game and teaching them the finer points of defense. I think the problem with Ron, is that too many people are afraid of him, and would rather watch a weaker player that’s more approachable. Not me, Ron Artest is one of my favorite players because of the way he plays the game. I look forward to watching him play, regardless of what uniform he wears because he is one of the 10 best players in the NBA.