The Ballad of Steve Nash

Tonight's NBA Draft will center around two youngsters with the potential to be basketball's next big thing: Duke point guard Kyrie Irving and Arizona forward Derrick Williams. Irving and Williams are the cream of the crop in a draft that is Mary-Kate Olsen thin and may be the only players of significance, although I like Kemba Walker and think The Jimmer has an outside shot, no pun intended, of a decent career depending on where he lands.

However, tonight, and every day going forward should be dedicated to someone a bit more long in the tooth: Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash. Nash finds himself as the quintessential company man on a Suns team that is going nowhere fast. He wants a crack at title, being that he's 37 and in the final year of what may be the last contract of his career, but he's too committed of a guy to demand a trade to a contender. Rather than shop the former two-time MVP to a team like the Lakers or San Antonio or someone with a puncher's chance at a ring, the leader in the clubhouse to acquire Nash's services are reportedly the Minnesota Timberwolves, who hold the #2 pick in tonight's Draft and have a logjam at forward that makes the selection of a guy like Williams somewhat pointless withouth further maneuvering of the roster.

A potential trade from a rebuilding, sinking ship like Phoenix to no man's land out in Prince Country would be depressing for Nash, his fan base and Canada. However, it will be a fitting close to the tragedy of Steve Nash. Nash started his NBA career as the 15th pick in the loaded '96 NBA Draft by the Suns but found himself stuck behind proven point men like Kevin Johnson, Sam Cassell and Jason Kidd. Barely able to crack the rotation, Nash was dealt to Dallas where he aligned with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley and rebuilt the Mavs into a title contender. With the Shaq-Kobe Lakers NBA dominance followed by the reign of the Tim Duncan Spurs, though, Nash's title hopes were squelched by more superior teams. In 2004, Nash hit free agency and Dallas was unwilling to commit big money to a then-30-year old point guard. So, Nash high-tailed it back to Phoenix, where he would find himself on a team filled with an embarressment of riches in the form of forwards Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion and guard/forward Joe Johnson. Even with such a stacked team, Phoenix couldn't get over the hump, as they were dismantled by Duncan's Spurs in '05 and then to Nash's old friends in Dallas in '06, both in the Western Conference Finals. After getting eliminated yet again by San Antonio in '07, Nash had to sit back and watch the potential dynasty around him crumble. Having already lost Johnson to a sign-and-trade, the next to go was Shawn Marion, who was dealt to Miami in a strange trade for Shaquille O'Neal. Then, Boris Diaw, acquired in the Joe Johnson deal with Atlanta, was shipped to Charlotte. Finally, it was Amare's time to bounce, opting to sign for big money in New York this time last year.

Now, here lies Steven John Nash, the last man standing on a sinking ship, like the band from "Titanic". The hope is that Phoenix does the right thing with Nash like the Kansas City Chiefs did with Tony Gonzalez and agree that the team is going nowhere fast and allow Nash to chase the ring that has eluded him. The question becomes: Where? So many of your contenders are set at point guard. Chicago has reigning MVP Derrick Rose. Boston has Rajon Rondo. The Spurs have Tony Parker, for now. The Lakers have been looking for a point guard since Magic retired but, with so much money tied to the rotting cadaver of Derek Fisher and the vastly overrated Steve Blake, is there room in Hollywood for Nash? On top of that, while Nash is an upgrade for L.A. offensively, he doesn't improve the Lakers on-going problem of being able to stop opposing point guards on the defensive end, which is something the Lakers will be thinking about before agreeing to ship someone like a Ron Artest or Lamar Odom in exchange for a one-year Nash rental. /a>

That leaves Nash between the proverbial rock and hard place. He could reunite with former coach Mike D'Antoni and Stoudemire in the Big Apple, but with Chicago and Miami having a stranglehold over the East, there's no guarantee the Knicks could surpass those two teams if they bring Nash on board. Even if Nash's presence would improve New York dramatically, what exactly could they give Phoenix to make them consider dealing Nash after the Knicks shipped all of its notable assets to Denver for Carmelo Anthony this past February? The team that makes a ton of sense would be Portland, who has a huge need at point guard, could offer up young talent, and has the type of athletes in guys like Gerald Wallace, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge that Nash could spend all day feeding tight passes to. The only issue is Portland's style of play, which is the furthest thing from the uptempo style Nash thrives in.

The other option is trying to make the best of things in Minnesota. It's a testament to the incompetence of the Timberwolves management over the years that they could be picking 2nd in a two-player Draft and find themselves needing to unload the pick because they're team is overrun by square pegs trying to fit into round holes. The move to Minnesota could only make sense to Nash if the Timberwolves take a page out of Boston's book and starts selling off its collection of young talent in exchange for proven veterans and make the T'Wolves an overnight contender. If the Wolves acquire Nash and then find a way to flip a Kevin Love or Michael Beasley or Wes Johnson or Anthony Randolph into, say, a Andrew Bynum or Andrew Bogut or Josh Smith or someone of that ilk, then Nash has a better chance in the Minnesota wilderness than he does in the deserts of Arizona. The irony of it all is that the Suns are in position to acquire someone with the chance to help Nash make a run but need to trade Nash to do so.

So while one fresh, new point guard comes in, the time has come for movement to start to help an old one out. In an era where young stars are finding ways to bully themselves onto contenders, Phoenix should honor someone who has remained old-school and hasn't let his thirst for a championship transform him into selfish brat, even while he has been given every reason to demand off the sinking ship.

They should do the right thing.....Free Steve Nash!

(Editor's Note: Consider this the opening salvo to the "Free Steve Nash" movement. If Nash is still a Phoenix Sun by tomorrow morning, then "Free Steve Nash" should be trending from everywhere from Twitter to Hulu. Break out some "Free Steve Nash" T-shirts! Start making "Free Steve Nash" YouTube videos. Hell, you can get Lil Wayne to make a "Free Steve Nash" freestyle! This needs to be the basketball equivalent of "Let The LOX Go!". FREE STEVE NASH, DAMNIT!)

Cut His Mic Off: David Tyree

"Nothing means more to me than that my God would be honored. Being the fact that I firmly believe that God created and ordained marriage between a man and a woman, I believe that's something that should be fought for at all costs. So I'll lay down everything I am to preserve the honor and integrity of the God that I serve......Once you allow something like same-sex marriage, it opens up the door for a continual softening to the backbone of our society, which will, eventually, for generations to come, open the door for, who knows, polygamy, and all other things. "

-- Former New York Giants WR and Super Bowl one-hit wonder David Tyree

This is why we need to have a real NFL offseason, filled with free agency and hot stove, water-cooler chatter: To avoid the idiotic musings of the biblically ignorant. Tyree was asked his thoughts on gay marriage by a reporter from the Daily News as the state of New York are currently debating allowing same-sex marriage in the Empire State. When asked if he would trade his infamous helmet-catch that made him relevant for about 15 minutes in the Big Apple in exchange for men being prevented from marrying other men, Tyree couldn't have said "Yes" quick enough.

Now, I'm a happily-married, heterosexual male. I am by no means some gay rights activist and, while I love my wife, I'm not even the biggest cheerleader on marriage. I, do, however, we, as human beings, are entitled to our rights and that something as archaic as religion shouldn't stand in between true love between two consenting adults, be it a two guys, two girls or what have you. I also am what bible-thumpers of Tyree's ilk would call an atheist. I consider myself a free thinker and I choose to live my life by my standards and not by some book or by the teachings of a man I am not convinced exists. Call it blasphemy. I don't care. Now, Tyree is more than entitled to his opinion but his comments, beyond being a tad bit extreme and overdramatic, represent the eternal struggle in the battle between God vs. Gay: Why is it that religious folk like Tyree believe that the freedom of thought applies only to what they believe in? Why can't homosexuals express those same liberties and do as they please? Because a book written centuries ago said so? It's amazing that people like Tyree can live in the Internet Age but think in the Stone Age.

Tyree says that he's willing to give up the one thing that made him relevant enough to provide these quotes in exchange for preventing the rights of another group of people. Funny, since it wasn't too long ago that African Americans like Tyree didn't have many rights themselves. It wasn't THAT far back in this nation's history that this country was tainted by the ignorance of segregation. Of course, those days are over now, so it's more than O.K. for one minority to tell another what they can and cannot have, so long as God is along for the ride to co-sign, right? How would Tyree have felt if Babe Ruth said "I'd give up every last one of my 714 home runs if it meant a black guy could never step foot on a professional sports team." That'd be pretty fucked up, wouldn't it? Shouldn't someone like Tyree, a black man who must have read a thing or two about the same kind of discrimination that he's showing toward gays, be a bit more sympathetic for a group of people desperately fighting for equality? Sure, gay marriage isn't the Civil Rights Movement, but it still has significance to a large group of people, even if "God" and his minions don't think much of it.

Here's my other issue with the fortified stance guys like Tyree seem to take against gay marriage: Who exactly does it hurt if gays get married? Is Tyree's marriage in danger if, say, Lance Bass married Ryan Seacrest? Will the world explode if Portia Di Rossi has Amber Heard put a ring on it? Of all the problems that plague this world, with people dying of cancer around the globe on a daily basis, with men and women in THIS COUNTRY fighting for our freedoms in the Middle East and risking their lives, the biggest issue that David Tyree feels need to be abolished is......gay marriage? Because Chaz and Percy in Apt. 4C saying "I do" somehow punches all our tickets to Hell, Dave? It seems rich that Tyree proclaims that he'd give up the helmet catch to stop gay marriage since, without said catch, he'd be lucky to receive questions from a Rosetta Stone survey. Also, have you taken a walk around New York City, David? It's not exactly Provo, Utah. There's A LOT of gay guys in NYC, my dude. And, guess what, they can read! So have fun walking around the metro, now that your thoughts are out there, while every gay man within 50 feet stares at you with the same disgust and disdain that you have when you see a commercial for "Queer As Folk".

In the meantime, The BoomRoasted Bible has struck down upon you the power of having your mic cut off!

Milk Carton All-Star of the Week: Jamal Lewis

It's been just under two months since we graced you with the presence of the Milk Carton All-Star of the Week.

Sorry.

I could come up with some lame excuse as to why this bit went on hiatus but, quite frankly, you're smarter than that and we're better than that. Besides, everybody loves a good comeback, right?

In many ways, Jamal Lewis embodied the image that has been portrayed by the new millennium Baltimore Ravens almost as much as the middle linebacker on the other side of the ball that shared his last name. Tough, physical, bruising, in-your-face, smashmouth......and inevitably incarcerated(OK, technically, Ray Lewis never went to jail, but you get the point). At 5'11, 240 pounds with above average speed, Jamal Lewis was the power back that we see so few of these days. Time was, the running back position was dominated by monstrous men toting the rock downfield like Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Bo Jackson, and Jerome Bettis. Now, you stare at a guy like Steven Jackson or Brandon Jacobs like you would stare at a celibate Kardashian sister. They're an endangered species. The game has been tailored to speedy scat-backs who can get out in the flats and catch the pill and are off to the races. That's why when a guy like Marshawn Lynch mows over a few Saints, Lizzie Grubman-style, you get people freaking out like the guy in the "Hold My Dick" video.

Jamal Lewis was the 5th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft, a rookie class that featured flameouts like Courtney Brown and Peter Warrick as well as two of Gabe's idols: Plaxico Burress and Ron Dayne. It didn't take long for Lewis to make his mark on a Ravens team that was lying in the weeds waiting for a breakout. He rushed for just over 1,300 yards as a rookie, leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl win as well as ending the Baltimore tenure of a man you may have heard of: Priest Holmes. Looking to follow up his impressive debut season, Jamal suffered a setback when he blew out his knee in training camp the following season. He would bounce back in 2002 with another 1,300 yard season but it would be the next year where the former Vol would put his stamp on NFL history. In 2003, Lewis became the fifth back to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season, falling just 39 yards short of eclipsing Eric Dickerson's single season mark of 2,105. Lewis didn't finish 2003 empty-handed in the record books though, as he broke Corey Dillon's single-game rushing record of 278 yards with a 295-yard day against Cleveland(the record would later be broken by Adrian Peterson, who went for 296 against San Diego in 2007). However, in typical Jamal Lewis fashion, the air came out of the tires as things were looking up. In February of 2004, reports surfaced about Lewis conspiring to acquire five kilos of cocaine. For his part, Lewis did four months in prison in Atlanta in February of the following year.

Lewis' legal troubles made the Ravens a bit hesitant to retain him in '05, as the team declined to franchise tag their workhorse back. During that same offseason, Baltimore signed former Broncos' 1,000-yard rusher Mike Anderson but still managed to bring back Lewis on a three-year deal. Lewis looked like a beaten man for the first two years of that deal, however, failing to pass 1,000 yards in 2005 and barely passing 1,100 yards in 2006. His YPC dropped from a steady average of above four yards per carry to a meager 3.5. In the spring of 2007, the Ravens cut Lewis and made a deal for another young power back: Willis McGahee.

Determined to prove he had something left in the tank, Lewis signed with Cleveland. Yes, the same Cleveland team he torched for nearly 300 yards a few years prior. With one last "Fuck You" season left in him, Lewis churned out 1,304 yards and 9 TDs in his first season with the Browns. That would be his last big year though. In 2008, the steam seemed to be coming out of him, as he had to struggle every one of his 1,002 yards. Midway into the 2009 season, Lewis announced he would retire at season's end, as he became frustrated with the lack of effort on a mediocre Browns team. He would finish the season with just 500 yards in an injury-plagued final season. Lewis finished his career with just under 11,000 yards and 58 TDs. His standing as one of a select few to rush for 2K keeps his name alive in the Hall of Fame debate but his lack of consistent production gives him as much a shot at Canton as Justin Bieber in an Octagon with Georges St. Pierre.

Regardless, let's give a round of applause for an athlete who was half-Barry Foster, half-Frank Lucas.......Jamal Lewis, everybody!!!!

Down With The King

The real tragedy of the conclusion of the NBA Finals, and perhaps even this entire NBA season, is that the media's infatuation with LeBron James from the ill-advised "Decision" spectacle to his second run at a championship has dwarfed all other notable NBA topics. The big victim of all this is Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was in LBJ's shoes once as the guy who could never seem to "win the big one" until he finally did this past Sunday.

Dirk got his moment in the sun, posted up with NBA commissioner David Stern at center-court while his condor-like arms raised the Finals MVP trophy while hundreds of fair-weather Miami fans exited the building with their minds once again fully entrenched on the next "Early Bird Special". Still, it didn't take long for focus to shift back to the self-appointed King. James ruffled some feathers in the days after Miami's chokejob when he made comments that a nation, already turned off by LeBron's "look at me" show all season, perceived as arrogant.

The problem here isn't so much LeBron's arrogance, which was put in place since he was a teenager when everyone short of the Pope was putting him on magazine covers and christening him "The Next Michael Jordan", as much as it a national media unsure what it wants from the best player in the game. When LeBron hit free agency around this time last year, we all secretly wanted LeBron to go somewhere where he had the best chance of winning a title because, while we weren't quite ready to call him "The Next MJ", we wanted him to be the second coming of His Airness. After all, Kobe Bryant was nearing the end of his rope and who wanted to root for a guy once accused of rape anyway? In July of last year, LeBron did just that. We just didn't like the way he went about it. Furthermore, we painted LeBron as a sidekick because rather than continue to be a one man show, he openly admitted to needing help by teaming up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Nevermind the fact that we had just finished watching an NBA Finals where Kobe and a star-studded supporting cast that starred one of the games best forwards in Pau Gasol, the game's premier perimeter defender in Ron Artest and coached by the game's best general in Phil Jackson just outlasted a Boston Celtics team that was comprised of All-Stars Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen(and an emerging star in Rajon Rondo).

Somehow, what LeBron was doing was different. Why? Because Michael Jordan would have never done it. Jordan would have never asked Magic or Bird to come to Chicago and tower over the league. So, because Michael Jordan was the epitome of all that is good with basketball(this despite a well-known gambling addiction and accounts by teammates and peers claiming Jordan was an arrogant schmuck of Donald Trump/Bill O'Reilly proportions) and LeBron was now the anti-Jordan, the path of least resistance was to paint LeBron and his cohorts as the villians. It was a role that "The Big Three" struggled with at first but eventually became something they came to terms with. They were the new Dallas Cowboys. They were the New York Yankees. They were the Floyd Mayweather of basketball. The team that looked so good on paper that those around them feared what their success may do to the sport going forward. It's why so many rooted for the resurgence of the Bulls led by the humble NBA MVP Derrick Rose come playoff time. It's why there was so much hand-ringing when the Heat finally ran out of gas against a Mavs team with Somalian-like hunger. Like most scripted movies, the bad guys died at the end.

My issue isn't so much painting LeBron and company as villains as much as it is why some are so surprised that James has come to terms with his new pubic standing. He knows reporters despise him. He knows guys like DeShawn Stevenson will always have a bone to pick with him. He knows he'll never be allowed to roam the streets of Cleveland. He knows he's persona non grata in areas outside of South Beach. Most importantly, he knows that this latest failure to win a ring will be all the basketball world will talk about for next five months until basketball starts up again or until our minds our occupied by the return of football. My issue is that we put a bullseye on a man's head and then became disappointed that he didn't beg for us to take it off him. LeBron's now the NBA's biggest bad guy. He's ok with that. It's not what he preferred, I'm sure, when he made his "decision", but it's something he can't take back now. The only cure is winning.

Which brings me to my next point......what would the book on LeBron be today if LeBron was a champion and not 0 for 2 in the NBA Finals? Look at how quickly we forgave Kobe's childishness when he won a ring without Shaq. Would winning the title this year have washed away all of James' past sins? And, if so, does that make those that hate him now hypocrites? And, if not, what will? What exactly is LeBron's crime? He chose to leave a miserable situation for a better one. Isn't that what we all are trying to do? Perhaps I'm coming off as a LeBron apologist. However, you should know that I was vehemently against the idea of "The Decision" and that LeBron's inability to take down an aging Mavericks team despite being the best player on the court for six games will go down as one sports' biggest disappointments. That being said, I don't believe in stringing out a man because he doesn't live up to OUR expectations and OUR projections of what he should be. LeBron James isn't Michael Jordan.

And you know what?

Nobody is.

The conclusion of these Finals should have been about Dirk Nowitzki coming full-circle and winning the ring that had escaped him his entire career. It should have been his golden moment. Instead, much like the rest of the NBA, it was overshadowed by the world's newfound love-hate relationship with LeBron James. That, to me, is more tragic than any ill-advised, self-centered comment the once media-anointed King has made. We created this monster, so when do we get to blame ourselves? We created this monster in hopes that the memory of Michael Jordan would live on in a kid who spent his entire life trying to be like his mentor. Instead, LeBron James made the choice to be the man he wanted to be and not what we wanted him to be. Since when did being your own man make you the bad guy? Probably since we are the ones who write the scripts.