0 The Steven Adams dream continues

Steven Adams is one series away from taking part in basketball's Holy Grail; the NBA finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the LA Clippers 104-98 in Los Angeles yesterday to win their Western Conference semi-final series by four games to two. The Herald reports on Adams' massive contribution:

A career-best night from Steven Adams has helped Oklahoma City sneak past the Los Angeles Clippers and into the NBA Conference Finals.
Adams showed impeccable timing this afternoon (NZT) to produce a spectacular performance in the series' clinching game in Los Angeles, recording a double-double and setting career highs in both minutes and rebounds.
His side's 104-98 victory in game six of the conference semifinals saw the Thunder seal the series 4-2 and advance to a meeting with the San Antonio Spurs, with game one set for Tuesday.
The triumph leaves Adams eight wins away from capping an amazing rookie season with an NBA title and, based on today's performance, he should see significant game time against the Spurs.
Coming off the bench to finish the win with a whopping 40 minutes, Adams trailed only MVP Kevin Durant among his teammates and saw more court time than even All Star point guard Russell Westbrook. His previous career-high, set in the regular season, was 30 minutes.

The Kiwi produced the second double-double of his young career, scoring an invaluable 10 points and grabbing 11 boards, surpassing his career-best of 10. Adams also chimed in with a steal and a block on All Star Blake Griffin.
The impressive stat line hardly came in garbage time, either. Adams was contributing on the court as the Thunder hauled in an early 16-point deficit and he was still there as they finally found the lead in the fourth.
The 20-year-old was afforded such an opportunity to excel after Kendrick Perkins - ostensibly the Thunder's starting centre - fell into early foul trouble. Perkins picked up three fouls in the opening five minutes and, called on by coach Scott Brooks, Adams seized the resulting chance with both hands.

When he was drafted to OKC last year, Adams wouldn't have dreamed about playing 40 minutes in a series-winning match in the post-season. But that's exactly what happened yesterday in Los Angeles. The OKC brains trust who picked Adams in the draft last year will be quietly patting one another on the back.

Great players step up in the most important matches, and at the most important moments in matches. Steven Adams showed yesterday that even in his rookie NBA season, he has a big game temperament. When his rookie contract comes up for negotiation at the end of next season, he will command serious dollars.

The Herald also has a great background piece on Adams the young man. It's an excellent read for a Saturday morning, and includes this photo of a young Steve Adams with his late father Sid.

The wayward young lad from Rotorua has come a long way. But the young man in Oklahoma City has the basketball world at his feet; bring on the Spurs!

0 Tweet of the Day - 14 May 2014

The Herald tweets the latest instalment in the Boy's Own story that is Steven Adams' debut NBA season:

After trailing for most of Game 5 in their seven-match series against the LA Clippers the Oklahoma City Thunder finished strongly to win 105-104 and take a 3-2 lead. Adams had a terrific night, getting 23 minutes of playing time, scoring nine points, grabbing four rebounds, getting an assist, two blocks and picking up three fouls.

One more win, and OKC will be in the Western Conference finals, just one match away from the NBA title series. Steven Adams is playing in the biggest league in basketball with and against some of the biggest names in the game. He's living the dream, and we wish him every success over the next few weeks.

0 Thought crime

Donald Sterling appears to be a racist. He told his girlfriend that he didn't want her to post photos of herself with black men, and didn't want her to invite them to the basketball games with her, because it might make people think less of her, and by implication him.

It appears that having that conversation has certainly made people think less of him.

When a covertly made recording of his conversation was released to TMZ he became a pariah. He was fined $2.5 million and has been banned for life from the NBA. He may be forced to sell his franchise. Because of a private conversation.

I'm not going to condone what Sterling said, but I do think that it is interesting that all of this is happening as a result of a private conversation that he probably never intended for public consumption.

The big issue is that he has come across as holding beliefs that go against the NBA's core values. It is not a statement or an action that he is being penalised for. It is his thought crime that he is being punished. He has revealed what was inside his head and now the thought police in the media are out to make him pay.

After fining him, exiling him and potentially stripping him of (some of) his assets, he should now be ready for re-programming. While this process is taking place, perhaps he could be made to serve the greater good of society. Perhaps a spot working in a salt mine might assist in his rehabilitation.

0 Sterling banned for life

We first became aware of the allegations of racism against LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Monday. And NBA Commissioner Aaron Silver has wasted no time in taking the most punitive action available to him; Reuters reports:

The National Basketball Association banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the game for life and fined him $2.5 million for racist comments made public over the weekend, the league's commissioner said on Tuesday.
Sterling, the longest-tenured owner of any of the 30 NBA teams, will not be allowed any role in the operations of his team or be able to serve as one of the league's governors, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced at a news conference in New York.
The controversy began over the weekend when the celebrity website TMZ.com released an audio recording with a voice said to be Sterling's criticizing a friend for associating with "black people."
An investigation into the recording concluded the voice was Sterling's Silver told reporters.
"The man whose voice is heard on the recording and on a second recording from the same conversation that was released on Sunday is Mr. Sterling," said Silver, who is confronting his first major crisis since he was named commissioner in February. "The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful."
Sterling's comments caused a wave of outrage from fans, players and coaches of the league, which was on the forefront of racial integration in U.S. professional sports, all the way to Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, who blasted the "incredibly offensive racist statements."

Regular readers ought be aware of where we stand on racism; it is never OK. Sterling seems to be a fairly unpleasant, intolerant, very wealthy specimen of humanity.

But what does a woman of 31 see in a man of 80? Does this matter have anything to do with V. Stiviano being sued by Sterling's wife? And although Ms Stiviano denies leaking the tape of Sterling to the media, who recorded it, and who leaked it?

Donald Sterling may be an intolerant old goat, but there certainly seems more to this case than meets the eye. We suspect that today's decision by Aaron Silver is by no means the end of this matter.