Brooklyn Nets

The Nets last night had a Pacific Coast sesh

Against a team of short health trying to mesh

Kyrie showed that he still has the handles

While burning sage and, what’s next, candles?

His teammate plays fire with burner accounts

But KD can play when everything counts

Not like James Harden who has a pout session

Against a rook by throwing balls his direction

But back to the Brooklyns who have depth to spare

Who everyone picks for the Finals to be there

So Vegas would like you to unload your kitty

On a Kyrie, a Kevin and Spencer Dinwiddie

Never mind; the Heat who were triumphant last year

To get to the Finals in a Orlando bubble lair

Or Philadelphia with a healthy Embid

Or a Miulwaukee whose leader got more green

And Nets have many first years, including their coach

And Nash has to be careful on on his level of approach

With these mercurial stars in his stable

The Brooklyn Nets: for real or a fable?

The Nets last night had a Pacific Coast sesh

Against a team of short health trying to mesh

Kyrie showed that he still has the handles

While burning sage and, what’s next, candles?

His teammate plays fire with burner accounts

But KD can play when everything counts

Not like James Harden who has a pout session

Against a rook by throwing balls his direction

But back to the Brooklyns who have depth to spare

Who everyone picks for the Finals to be there

So Vegas would like you to unload your kitty

On a Kyrie, a Kevin and Spencer Dinwiddie

Never mind; the Heat who were triumphant last year

To get to the Finals in a Orlando bubble lair

Or Philadelphia with a healthy Embid

Or a Miulwaukee whose leader got more green

And Nets have many first years, including their coach

And Nash has to be careful on on his level of approach

With these mercurial stars in his stable

The Brooklyn Nets: for real or a fable?

The Brooklyn Nets: for real or a fable?

Adios James Harden

The Heat of Miami says it’s time to move on

From James Harden as good as gone

But the base they continue to fawn

For the days of Big Three and spawn

Championships and Finals repeats

Read about Harden and learn all the deats

He shrinks when things get deeper and harder

Like a costar who acts with Ali Larter

It wasn’t enough to have a Westbrook

He was grooving before the COVID took

Then his coach and GM would skip

Then he ventured to a club where they strip

Then the rumors started that he needed to bale

And pictures came out and he wasn’t eating kale

And the teams he proclaimed would be happy

Except like the Knicks who expect to be crappy

Of course the Heat would be on the list

With the culture, the coach, and the players to assist

But the Rockets they would like a boatload package

And thoughts of gold would be turned into cabbage

Let’s run with the crew that got to the Finals

Who had the horses with the saddles and bridals

It’s no shame to run it all back

Without a player who reminds me of Stack

Loads of talent maybe top 50 one day

But needs to have help like a Nowitski

If it happens and we happen to land him

James Harden, here’s your weight plan and 24 hour work gym

The Wade discount to the Bulls

When the ugliest sports vernacular like “discounts” and “it’s a business” have been uttered in South Florida, it’s a Dwayne Wade and Miami Heat tussle. It isn’t the Miami Dolphins because they pay full price and it isn’t the Miami Marlins because they don’t pay anything. It could only mean Dwayne Wade and the Heat. The last two years have included cryptic messaging and passive aggressive behavior from professionals acting like children. This is framed as “business” but there was more maturity found in a daycare center. The good news is the spatting is finally over and, like most wars, nobody really won.

The discount was at the heart of all the dissension. How much was given up by Wade the year before and how much would be earned in the future? Is a discount an admission of diminishing talent and worth? Or is the discount for the betterment of the team and had the discount been enough in past years to lead to this moment of truth?  It’s all negligible and that includes the interpretation of the fans.

Miami Heat nation gave a discount for the Dwayne Wade experience. Heat Nation enjoyed three championships, incredible basketball, and the relationships that Dwayne Wade fostered to make American Airlines arena a star studded event night after night. The trade off was a win for the fans and the ownership, but it wasn’t perfect. Who knows that more than Dwayne Wade?

Where Miami affectionately called Wade’s “old man game” is where some in Chicago have considered their new acquisition as straight outta AARP. Father prime’s age isn’t the only thing that will be brought into question about the sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer:

• That help brand of defense Wade habitually plays. It has happened more as he has gotten older, to the tune of Miami giving up 4 fewer points per game while #3 was on the bench last year. He may be a Bull but he really acts like a matador on the defensive end.
• Making one out of two free throws. He makes the “and 1s” without fail but his 76.9 career percentage is what it is. From a mid-range shooting Hall of Fame two guard, that percentage is average at best.
• His Hall of Fame mindset. Wade will turn 35 in January 2017 but, as he mentioned this year, he may still feel 28 and be just as ball dominant as ever. Is Jimmy Butler going to be the #2? That won’t go well.
• How’s that unproven head coach and Wade relationship going to work out? Erik Spoelstra had a special long term relationship with this dynamic player which allowed more autonomy then most.
• Like the head coach relationship, Dwayne Wade has had long standing, professional relationships that have helped his media obligations and nurtured his star profile. Judging the early returns, it may be a little rougher in Chicago.

These were all discounts that Miami Heat nation gave throughout the years and would give more of had Dwayne Wade remained in South Florida. The question now is: how much of a discount will Chicago give compared to South Florida? Was the minimal, at best, increase in earnings worth the scrutiny that will likely come? Did Dwayne Wade discount the loyalty that was earned through 13 years of sacrifice? These are the questions awarded to a fresh start with the bittersweet ending.