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Nate's stretching is the key to his bounce. An old AAU coach of mines told me you can gain up to 4" on your vertical just by stretching every night.
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Originally Posted by you big dummy
Originally Posted by belle155
delonte workin for a furniture company?? hes gotta eat somehow
Nah...I'd give it two more weeks.Originally Posted by gaseousfashion
Tomorrow the fate of the NBA season shall be revealed.
Pray.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this. People act like everything they don't like about the NBA is the result of a direct order from Stern and that this lockout is going to continue or end at his whim. It doesn't work like that.Originally Posted by JapanAir21
Also, the hate for Stern is both unwarranted and overrated.
People act like this wouldn't happen with anyone else.
Originally Posted by 0cks
Tim Thomas' still alive?
Pretty much. There were rumors he might come back at times, but he never did. She has been sick for a while, and all his time away has been because of that. In his short stint with the Mavericks, he said he enjoyed it, and Cuban said he'd welcome him back...Originally Posted by Air Freshh 23
His wife isn't well, so he left the mavericks to take care of her.Originally Posted by 0cks
Tim Thomas' still alive?
I mean, I understand the owners aren't angelic themselves, but something has to be done in order to protect the league in it's best interest. These players WORK for somebody. Since when did anyone get to go up to their bosses and say, 'listen here - things have to go like this!'. Yeah....my $+%.
Exactly. How exactly does a salary cap really EFFECT the players? It'll indirectly effect them since teams won't be able to sign as many huge deals and they'll have to balance salaries more, but it's a business. They're your boss. If CEOs and owners want to downsize in the business world, they do. Labor unions are normally very insignificant and non-impactful. And seriously, how can players complain about getting 20 million dollars a year for playing basketball. You give me 50 grand a year to play basketball for the rest of my life, and I'd be STOKED. And minimum salary right now is like a million dollars a year? And average player is closer to 4-5 million range?
Greedy %!! players. You can say the owners are greedy, sure, but they write your damn check.
Kobe to play in Italy during lockout
Italian club Virtus Bologna said it has reached a verbal agreement with Kobe Bryant for the Los Angeles Lakers star to play in Italy during the NBA lockout.
"We have reached an economic deal," Virtus president Claudio Sabatini told a local radio station. "There's still some things to arrange but at this point I'm very optimistic. I would say it's 95 percent done."
A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the sides have settled on a $3 million contract for the opening 40 days of the Italian league season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has still not been signed.
Bryant, who spent much of his childhood in Italy, was in the country for sponsor appearances over the past two days but was flying back to the U.S. for labor talks with the NBA on Friday.
Bryant is expected to get a work visa and return to Italy next week.
"Kobe should be in Bologna by Wednesday or Thursday with his visa in hand for medical visits and then we can deposit the contract with the league," Sabatini said. "I want to make clear that right now there are still no signatures. We've got to write the contract, which will then be read over and over again."
Virtus had been due to open the season Oct. 9 against Roma, but schedules now need to be reworked after Venezia was added to the league as a 17th team.
The deal, which would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout ends, should last about 10 games.
Sabatini wants to create a special schedule that assigns Bryant's games to Italy's biggest arenas.
"This is an important investment and a unique chance for the city of Bologna and all of Italian basketball," Sabatini said. "I'm hoping everyone wants to collaborate."
The 33-year-old Bryant has three years and $83.5 million left on his contract with the Lakers.
Between the ages of six and 13, Bryant lived in Italy when his father Joe Bryant played with Rieti, Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggiana from 1984-91. The elder Bryant also once owned a small part of Olimpia Milano. He now coaches the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.
The younger Bryant still speaks Italian fairly well, and discussed his memories of his time in the country during an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport two days ago.
"Italy is my home. It's where my dream of playing in the NBA started. This is where I learned the fundamentals, learned to shoot, to pass and to (move) without the ball," Bryant told the Italian newspaper. "All things that when I came back to America the players my age didn't know how to do because they were only thinking about jumping and dunking."
Bryant added that playing in Italy "would be a dream for me."
Bryant has been bothered in recent seasons by an arthritic joint in his right knee, which has required several minor operations. He sat out a majority of the Lakers' practices last season and saw his scoring, shooting percentage and minutes decrease in his 15th NBA season.
Former USC guard Daniel Hackett, a dual citizen who plays for Pesaro in Italy, said he would give Bryant a hostile reception if he faced the former NBA MVP.
"The only way to stop a player that good is with a hard foul and he knows that," Hackett said. "I've got five fouls to commit and they're going to be the hardest five fouls I've ever committed."
Hackett also criticized speculation that Bologna will ask opposing clubs hosting Bryant's away games to chip in a portion of ticket sales to help pay Bryant's salary.
"I really hope Kobe doesn't lower himself to this level for economic and commercial motives," Hackett said, according to the Gazzetta. "To me, it would be a big disappointment to see him here under these circumstances, and a loss of respect for a player who is too big to dirty his hands in this league."
Bologna president Sabatini replied, "Fortunately not all Italian players think like Hackett."
Turkish club Besiktas and at least one team in China had also expressed interest in Bryant, who has won five NBA championships and been an All-Star 13 times.
Bologna also recently approached Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili, who played with the club before joining San Antonio in 2002. Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari rejoined his former Italian club Olimpia Milano last week.
The NBA season is scheduled to open Nov. 1 but owners and players have failed to agree on a new labor deal. The two sides are at odds over how to divide the league's revenue, a salary cap structure and the length of guaranteed contracts.
Last week, NBA officials announced the postponement of training camp and the cancellation of 43 preseason games.
Virtus has won 15 Italian league titles but none since 2001, when it also won the Euroleague for the second time.
Bologna did not qualify for this season's Euroleague, although the team has big ambitions after signing former Clemson point guard Terrell McIntyre, who led Siena to four consecutive Italian titles before transferring to Malaga in Spain before last season.
Having mingled with fans in Milan on Wednesday, Bryant also received a warm welcome in Rome on Thursday, where he was brought to the Campidoglio museum to be given a commemorative medal from the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Link
Exactly. How exactly does a salary cap really EFFECT the players? It'll indirectly effect them since teams won't be able to sign as many huge deals and they'll have to balance salaries more, but it's a business. They're your boss. If CEOs and owners want to downsize in the business world, they do. Labor unions are normally very insignificant and non-impactful. And seriously, how can players complain about getting 20 million dollars a year for playing basketball. You give me 50 grand a year to play basketball for the rest of my life, and I'd be STOKED. And minimum salary right now is like a million dollars a year? And average player is closer to 4-5 million range?
Originally Posted by ColdCity
fam doesnt know *%% hes doing
^^^^^^Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE
For one they aren't merely "Workers" ... They're more like Independent Contractors so while they both perform task for the company they have the ability to come or go as they see fit once their contract is up. You go to who will give you the highest rate for your services.
%$%% what y'all are talking about its the players that make the game... We Watch The NBA for LeBron , For Kobe , For Wade, For Dirk, For Pooh, For CP3, For Durant & Russy, For those Fassibois in the Tri State... NOT For, Dan Gilbert, James Dolan, The Maloofs, Mike (The Owner not the Player) or Donald Sterling.
So y'all talk about this y'all are with the Owners Bull %!$% if you want. If it wasn't for the players there wouldn't be any league, the owners are getting paid of someone's talents, ability, & marketability. Not because they had the idea and built it from the ground up, its because they had money to invest in an established brand already. This New Breed of Owners, They're More Like Leeches.
Greedy %!! players. You can say the owners are greedy, sure, but they write your damn check.
This is dumb as $$%!.