Basketball Inequity

It'd be like Superman chasing after common criminals with no Lex Luther to battle.  No one wants that shit. 

In approximately 4 months, at the end of the 2015-2016 NBA season, Kevin Durant will be a free agent able to sign with whichever team he deems fit.  Seeing that there is much more of the current NBA season to be played, I bet the 2014 MVP has yet to definitively nail-down what team he's headed for should he choose to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder.  However, some insiders are pegging the Golden State Warriors as a potential destination for the 6'9" 240 lbs., eight-year veteran.  The Warriors have structured the contracts of their stars--Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green--in such a way that they would have enough salary cap leeway to make a run at signing highly-touted Durant.  

Yes, you read that correctly.  The 2015 NBA champions who are currently challenging the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record for best record in an NBA regular season (72-10), would add yet another extraordinary talent to an already dangerous, self-less team. 

Here's a hypothetical scenario:

The Warriors go 73-9 and win back-to-back titles.

Stephen Curry is awarded his second MVP trophy.

And the cherry on-top, Kevin Durant heads for the Bay area. 

How is a starting lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes (you could even replace Barnes with center Andrew Bogut for a bigger lineup), and Kevin Durant promoting equitable basketball?  You might as well handover the Larry O'brien trophy right now because it would not be fair.  If the NBA vetoed the trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, boosting Kobe Bryant's chances at a sixth title in an instant, I have no idea what kind of antics commissioner Adam Silver would try to utilize to keep this super-team from forming.  Could he even stop it if he wanted to? given the freedom of free agency, probably not. 

If you think watching the Warriors plow through their opponents now is boring, imagine how uncompetitive games would be with KD.  That team would have the best scorers on the planet. 

My biggest grievance with this would-be-tectonic-shift of power in the NBA goes beyond the deterioration of parity in the league, but rather the perceived selfishness of some of the NBA's stars.  Everybody wants to form a super-team, a trend that was re-popularized when Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett headed to the Boston Celtics to play with Paul Pierce in 2007, or when Lebron James and Chris Bosh packed their bags for warmer weather and headed to Wade County to wrack up two championships with the Miami Heat. 

Are players that caught up with their place in NBA history that they are willing to leave their roles as building blocks--cornerstones--to join teams with the best shot at winning titles?  Regardless of a superstar's prerogative, what happened to the days where players took pride in the organization that drafted them and wanting to become the team that overthrows the victors?  It's not like Kevin Durant is playing with D-League call-ups.  He has got the most violent point guard in basketball in Russell Westbrook feeding him the ball and a Thunder team that is a legitimate contender to win the Western Conference.  

Championships are not easily attainable, we know that.  Some of the greats have never experienced the elation that comes with winning a title, a-la Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. But isn't that why we play and passionately watch?  Titles are not bought, they are earned, and the beauty of basketball, of sports for that matter, is the ability for organizations to come together for better or for worse and chase greatness. 

Playground Football

"Whatever you think about your little back-door tournaments where you just tag 'em, no.  This is damn near tackle without equipment."  ~ O.G. Pamz, Carver Mobb

Rice Cakes Turkey Bowl 6 Champions, photo by Alex Young

Being from Western Pennsylvania, football runs through my veins.  From my earliest memories of making game-winning interceptions against an older third-grade class on the playdeck of my elementary school to experiencing two Super Bowl victories by my six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, football has always gotten my adrenaline pumping.

Naturally, a lot of people feel this way.  The NFL virtually owns a day of the week and on every fourth Thursday in November, friends and families gather to compete in their annual Turkey Bowls.  Things are different though, for the participants of the Street Bowl Championship.

Football is not always an outlet for people who live in the inner-city, especially in New York. There are basketball courts in practically every park in practically every neighborhood within the boroughs, but the Concrete Jungle doesn't offer many locations for the gridiron.  The lack of grass to play pick-up football was just a slight inconvenience for the teams of the street football leagues that emerged from the Bronx in the 1970s.  In the infancy of this pick-up phenomenon, teams from bordering projects would gather to play on concrete with elbow-pads while having no regard for their opponent's safety let alone their own.  

It was NFL Street in real-life.

Competition and intense rivalry brewing throughout the New York City squads coupled with the crack era led these football leagues to take on a whole new life of their own.  Much like any other game played in the streets--basketball, dice, chess in the park--games where teams played for pride and street-cred turned into games of money and betting.  Now, earnings between $70k and $100k for a full year's worth of playground football is enough to have every inner-city neighborhood forming a team.

After fifty plus years of wins, losses, and squabbling, organizers have decided to settle the debate of New York's best football team on the field.  In Vice Sports' six part video series, Kings of the Underground, the drama of these storied pick-up games unfold as the best eight teams in New York gather to play in the Street Bowl Championship.  The series will follow these teams on their two-day journey to immortality and $16k cash prize. Check out episode one below, and be sure to return as more of the videos are released. 

P.S. If you're interested in seeing how the games panned out, YouTube user, Don Holman, recorded several hours of game footage here. 

Player, Coach, GM, Lebron

The dude has an entire organization and city on his back. 

Illustration by Alexander Wells

Whether you are a Lebron lover or hater, it is hard to ignore what he was able to accomplish at the end of last season.  Heading into the NBA finals, James was depleted of a roster that normally featured a rotation of 3 all-stars, missing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injury.  23 still made it interesting, though, winning two games in a row, playing inspiring basketball averaging 35 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists all while forcing himself into the Finals MVP conversation despite the losing effort. 

Lebron James can do it all and not just on the court.  Peel back the curtain and you'll see how many hats King James wore throughout the 2014-2015 season as he returned to Cleveland as a matured, battle-tested ruler of the league.  Lebron has been to the NBA Finals five times in a row, but last year wasn't the expected breeze that he had flowing through the South Beach palm trees; the Cavs struggled mightily going 20-20 through their first 40 games.  While we saw a team trying to find its identity and chemistry amongst battling personalities, there was Lebron orchestrating virtually every action to ensure his team's success.  

Kings travel with an entourage and in Lebron's is Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin.  The former was a beat writer for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003 to 2008 before being scooped up by ESPN to follow Lebron James on his new path to Miami in 2010, while McMenamin covers everything Cavs and everything Lebron, like if Jared Cunningham will don his entire collection of Lebrons.  With the help of illustrator Alexander Wells, the two have chronicled how Lebron James has begun to construct his new empire in Cleveland, revealing stories of players-only meetings to James pulling himself from the lineup minutes before tip-off.  Read an excerpt from the article below and head over to ESPN for a riveting narrative.

On Dec. 30, suffering through knee and back pain that has hampered him on the court for weeks, James unilaterally makes the call to sit. Says Windhorst on the B.S. Report: "LeBron just decided, 'I'm not gonna play.' Like, at the last minute, he told them, 'I'm not playing.' Didn't even come out to the bench, just sat in the back, didn't come out." The Cavs are stunned, but they acquiesce to the decision and agree to two weeks' rest.

The Illustrators of Sports Lore

The following sets of images are iconic sports photographs and their photographers in honor of Rich Clarkson becoming the first photographer to be honored with a lifetime media award by any of the four major sports halls of fame, and all other revered photographers who helped illustrate sports history.

Rich Clarkson's portrait of Wilt Chamberlain, 1956

Neil Leifer's photograph of Muhammed Ali triumphantly standing over Sonny Liston, 1965

Robert Beck's capture of Brandi Chastain moments after her World Cup clinching penalty kick, 1999

Fernando Medina crystallized Michael Jordan's final shot of his career, 1998 (check the :06.6s remaining on the clock...appropriate)

The Catch by John Storey, 1982 (49ers vs. Cowboys, NFC Championship Game)

Heinz Kluetmeier,1980 "...DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? YES!"

"I know so many photographers that are as intelligent and astute at understanding what they’re doing and what their picture is saying as some really fine writers."

- Rich Clarkson

Cameraman Nairobi Documents Steelers 2015 Training Camp

Football is a proud American tradition, the start of the 2015 NFL season is a welcome sight to almost all, and in Pittsburgh it is a return to normalcy. By now fans are just pulling their team's jersey out the closet, but Steelers fans have worn theirs all offseason, switching to their favorite Super Bowl t-shirt when the jersey needs in the washed. Black and Yellow runs through the city's core, so when whistles blew August 26, the first day of training camp, in Latrobe, PA best believe Steeler Nation was present in full support.

Amongst the crowd is Cameraman Nairobi, a native from Pittsburgh's McKeesport region. He observes the Steelers work to surpass an 11-5, AFC North Championship season, especially the early exit from the Playoffs by the Ravens. Training camp is interesting because the team is essentially a puzzle; each piece tinkered with or discarded so the fit results in a championship completion. Perched on the sideline Nairobi captures foreshadows of 2015 Steelers success while highlighting the rise of Martavis Bryant-- third year wide receiver. The Cameraman has tracked Bryant's progress throughout the offseason, which now has him playing alongside Pro Bowler Antonio Brown in an expanded role. Accompanying on-field action shots the photographer supplies great candids of players like punter Brad Wing. Follow Nairobi's coverage of Steelers 2015 training camp on his Instagram and check the team's developments during its first preseason game August 9 against the Vikings.