LeBron James used the 2008 Redeem Team as a similar springboard to winning his first MVP award in 2009 (although he had already been the best player in the league). And Kevin Durant was the 2011 MVP award front-runner after leading the B team to FIBA world championship gold despite being no better than the fifth best player in the league. Durant quickly silenced that talk with an early shooting slump but the impact his Team USA teammates had on the early part of the season became a talking point for NBA fans that weren't too busy dissecting Heatlemania. I, being a natural cynic and non-believer (shunnnn me), was initially skeptical about the hypothesized positive effect Team USA was having on its' members. Now that the year is well underway, it's an appropriate time to break down the seasons the B Teamers are having to try to determine if there is any sort of appreciable Team USA bump. In the interest of space (and short attention spans), I'll split this post into two parts. First up, the veterans.
Showing posts with label Iggy Pop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iggy Pop. Show all posts
February 9, 2011
The B Team Revisited- The Veterans
Before he was the size of a small large polar bear and spent his Thursday nights going Ron Burgundy on TNT, Charles Barkley was a pretty good basketball player. He led the Dream Team in scoring and won the 1993 MVP award after being traded to an already formidable Phoenix Suns team. According to popular NBA history, Barkley came into that season focused and in better shape because of his Dream Team "experience." This has always seemed odd to me, as it appears that Barkley's experience seemed more centered around insulting outmatched opponents, gambling with Michael Jordan and being treated like the Queen of England, Michael Jackson and Batman all rolled into one super-celebrity entity during his stay in Barcelona. The intense (and legendary) Dream Team practices surely helped Barkley maintain his edge over the summer, a time Charles usually reserved for the golf course. But Barkley actually had several more productive seasons while in Philadelphia during the first half of his career. The difference in 1993 was that he combined his individual exploits with team success and, most importantly, fit the MVP narrative of that season (though everyone now it agrees it should have gone to that Jordan guy).
LeBron James used the 2008 Redeem Team as a similar springboard to winning his first MVP award in 2009 (although he had already been the best player in the league). And Kevin Durant was the 2011 MVP award front-runner after leading the B team to FIBA world championship gold despite being no better than the fifth best player in the league. Durant quickly silenced that talk with an early shooting slump but the impact his Team USA teammates had on the early part of the season became a talking point for NBA fans that weren't too busy dissecting Heatlemania. I, being a natural cynic and non-believer (shunnnn me), was initially skeptical about the hypothesized positive effect Team USA was having on its' members. Now that the year is well underway, it's an appropriate time to break down the seasons the B Teamers are having to try to determine if there is any sort of appreciable Team USA bump. In the interest of space (and short attention spans), I'll split this post into two parts. First up, the veterans.
LeBron James used the 2008 Redeem Team as a similar springboard to winning his first MVP award in 2009 (although he had already been the best player in the league). And Kevin Durant was the 2011 MVP award front-runner after leading the B team to FIBA world championship gold despite being no better than the fifth best player in the league. Durant quickly silenced that talk with an early shooting slump but the impact his Team USA teammates had on the early part of the season became a talking point for NBA fans that weren't too busy dissecting Heatlemania. I, being a natural cynic and non-believer (shunnnn me), was initially skeptical about the hypothesized positive effect Team USA was having on its' members. Now that the year is well underway, it's an appropriate time to break down the seasons the B Teamers are having to try to determine if there is any sort of appreciable Team USA bump. In the interest of space (and short attention spans), I'll split this post into two parts. First up, the veterans.
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