NBA Tip-Off: Lebron Gets His Ring

The 2013 NBA season tips off tonight with Heat v Celtics followed by the Dallas Mavericks on the road to the L.A. Lakers (Side note: the Wizards are also playing the Cavaliers but…).

The Heat will receive their rings tonight in front of the very team they beat in order to make it to the NBA Finals last year. Hooray for King James!  This will also be the first time that Ray Allen, who now wears a Heat jersey, will face his former team since leaving them over in the offseason, despite receiving a more lucrative offer from Boston (I wonder why no one burned his jersey?!). That plot line just adds to the rivalry between these two teams. I will be pulling for Boston…only because I don’t feel like hearing Heat fans mouthsJ

 The Heat/Celtic matchup will be followed by a Dallas Maverick/Lakers showdown, that may or may not actually be a showdown. Both teams have a new look as far as personnel go but the Lakers have the more loaded team AKA the better team. Most NBA fans are approaching this game as if the Lakers are the Harlem Globetrotters and the Mavericks are the team that chases them around for the ball.

The Mavericks basically have gutted their 2011 NBA championship team in favor of players with less expensive and shorter contracts. Not only that but they will be without the face of the franchise, Dirk Nowitki and former All-Star Center Chris Kaman. The Lakers, on the other hand, will star Steve Nash and the NBA’s best big man Dwight Howard alongside superstars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

Needless to say, that game may not be of much interest for an opening game but I’m sure the Mavs will keep it close..they may pull off the first upset of the seasonJ (yes, I am a Mavs fan).

Boston at Miami, 7:00PM (CST), TNT

Dallas at L.A.,  9:30PM (CST), TNT

Dear OKC, Beware of South Beach

The 2006 NBA Finals is one of those few events that I have avoided discussing in detail for the last 6 years. I considered the 2006 playoff run of the Dallas Mavericks to be one of the most exciting times of my sports life, but then the 8 days from Game 3 to Game 6 brought about the most depressing days of my sports life. The next week was a blur. I sat for days trying to figure out how in the heck did it come to this. They were so focused, so poised, so great in games 1 and 2. What happened?

......Then I took a trip to South Beach and had an epiphany. I had figured it out. The Mavericks were consumed by the topless tanning, thongs and night life taking place on South Beach. There was no way that a group of young men could compose themselves in such an atmosphere. I frequently saw many of the players out on the town here in Dallas and they always seemed to be having the time of their life so I knew that they were probably…no…they were on South Beach acting like a group of sheltered children who had finally been let out to play. Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels, Jason Terry, and Devin Harris were (are) all party boys. There was no way they weren’t going to indulge in ALL that South Beach had to offer them. Coach Avery Johnson was so upset with how the team played in game 4 that he had the team pack its bags and move from their downtown hotel in Miami to a hotel in Fort Lauderdale. He figured his players were having too much fun soaking up the appeal & temptation of South Beach and weren't focused enough on the business of basketball. Johnson made them eat, drink and sleep at their Fort Lauderdale hotel and not leave the property. If he knew Miami like I know Miami…that would have been his move before game 4. It was too late….they had already been bit by the South Beach bug and there is no coming back from that.

That brings me to my fair warning to the kidos of OKC Thunder. The Thunder are a lot younger than those 2006 Mavericks were. They are about to spend the next 7 days in a city that is nothing like where they spend most of their year….in OKC. Bricktown doesn’t have anything on South Beach! I see some maturity on the court from Durant. I can probably trust that he will stay focused. Plus Mama Durant looks like she don't play that. However, South Beach does not discriminate. It will take the most laid back guy on the team and bring out a side of him that even his teammates didn’t know he had. James Harden is dating female rapper Trina…who is a hottie from Miami. I’m sure she has some friends lined up to cop them an NBA star. Parties will be popping. Lil Wayne will have one (inspite of how OKC has treated him), then Uncle Luke, Trina will take them to King of Diamonds and OKC will official lose its mind!

Is this wishful thinking on my behalf? Am I hoping that OKC is consumed and distracted by all the beautiful women, the delicious food, the parties, the beach? Yes, somewhatJ

My advice to Scott Brooks is this….take a page out of Avery Johnson’s book but do it today. I know they’re adults and no one should be telling them what to do, but this is business. They have a boss and their boss is going to have to pull on the reins if he wants his young guns to have a chance to leave South Beach with another game left to play in OKC.

You have been warned!

Like The BOS

NBA Playoffs: They Did What?!

My, my, my how things can change in just two days! The opening round of the NBA playoffs gave the sport world lots of things to discuss on this Monday morning. Here is what the Beauty of Sports pondered on this morning over my cup of tea.

Rajon Rondo: Rondo wins the “dunce cap” award after he did the one thing no team wants to see from its leader in the postseason: He got himself ejected for something that shouldn’t have happened with 41seconds left in the game! Rondo tried selling that it was his momentum that carried him into the ref, but if we know anything about Stew…. we know he isn’t buying. Rondo finished with 22 points,11 assists. Where are the Celtics going to get that production for Game 2?

Kevin Durant: Lucky shot..next…

Dallas Mavericks: The Mavs gave the young, talented Oklahoma City Thunder all they could handle in their opener Saturday but fell short. With 2:20 to go Dallas held a seven point lead at 94-87. The Mavs have to close games out. Period. Serge Ibaka won’t score 22 again (or maybe he will…there is no inside presence). They need more JET in the 4th. The NBA Champs aren’t gonna go down without a fight. They’ll bite an ear if they have to!

Dallas Mavericks: Always the Underdog

I grew up in West Texas, where football is our thing. All I cared about was football; high school, Big 12, and the Dallas Cowboys. It wasn’t until I came to the Dallas area post high school in 2002 that I was introduced to the Dallas Mavericks and I have been a member of the elite society “MFFL” (Mavs Fan For Life) ever since. All I know is winning seasons, the Mavericks have won 50 or more regular season games in 11 consecutive seasons, dating back to 2001…..only owner I’ve ever known is Mark Cuban. Only coaches I know are Don Nelson, Avery Johnson, and Rick Carlisle. Ever since I joined the family, the Mavs have consistently had winning season, made the playoffs, and Dirk has been the man…ever year. Since their inaugural 1980–81 season, the Mavericks have won three division titles (1987, 2007, 2010), two conference championships (2006, 2011), and one NBA Championship (2011). Where is the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.?

Sweep Revenge

Remember that broom the Mavericks used to sweep the Lakers out of the playoffs last year? The Lakers used the same broom to sweep the regular season series versus the Mavericks this year. The games have been competitive for the most part and I have learned not to read too much into the regular season rather the team is on the winning side or not and I'm sure the Los Angeles Lakers are well aware a regular-season sweep means nothing compared to a playoff sweep... So.... I will not use today to vent about the officiating and the missed call on the Matt Barnes OBVIOUS goal tend. I will save that for when it matters the most...in the post season.


The Mavericks are currently in 6th place in the Western Conference and if the standings hold, they will face the Lakers in the first round. I have said repeatedly that if the Mavs don't finish in the top 5 of the Western Conference they will be eliminated in the first round....make a note of that! Here's a look at this years regular season Mavs/Lakers matchups...all won by L.A.

Dear Mr. Kardashian,

Ok. After my last letter I thought I had gotten through to you. I tried to give you a chance. I didn’t want to be the ultimate naysayer….but now I must react. I’m fairly disappointed in you. Maybe it’s my fault for setting my expectations so high. I mean…..what was I thinking?!  However, at this point my expectations or zilch ,zero, nothing. This is my defense mechanism so that when you do nothing……I can say I expected nothing anyway.

So  I wasn’t surprised when you produced a quadruple-uno versus the Lakers on Wednesday. That’s 1 more point, rebound, assist, and steal than I had. Your effort was lackluster even by the low standards you have established this season.

Dirkalicious aka Dirty Dirk

Well...you Lin some, you lose some!

While Linsanity is coming to a slow decline in New York (finally!), Mr. Clutch himself came thru for the Mavs again last night as they faced the New York Knicks. Dirk did what Dirk does and put the team on his back and we rode off with a 95-85 win! Nowitzki scored 28 points (24 of those in the 2nd half) and bailed out the Mavericks after they lost the lead after going over 7 minutes without a point to start the fourth quarter.

"This was a much-needed win. It was a big character win," Mavericks guard Jason Kidd said. "We responded with some stops and Dirk made some big shots."

Nowitzki made his signature 14-foot fade away jumper with 4:34 left, starting a 14-0 run where he scored nine points.

That was right after the Knicks, who had trailed by as many as 19, scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter and went ahead 78-77 when Stoudemire hit a shot with about 5 minutes left. It was their first lead since scoring the game's first four points, and didn't last long.

The Kardashian’s BIG Party in Big D

Khloe and Lamar Kardashian are getting a BIG welcome party in Big D on January 26 -- thanks to Lamar's new teammate Shawn Marion. Marion is hosting  a blowout welcome dinner at his mansion.

Sources say, the entire Mavericks team will be present ... along with some other select VIPs

Dear Mr. Kardashian,

Please take your circus and exit stage left. Thanks, The BOS

Ok….. the Cowboys season ended in D minus fashion and now the Dallas Mavericks are off to a hideous 3-5 start and I am in need of a scapegoat. Bringing Tyson Chandler back isn’t an option…so I am going to pin this on you, Mr. Lamar Kardashian. An insider has told me that the locker room, practice, and all other operations at the American Airlines Center where the World Champion Dallas Mavericks play has been a circus since the Kardashian’s and their reality show centered lives arrived in Big D. You claim “The key is to make everybody comfortable” . Well how about you keep your film crew out of the locker room. Dirk is not an attention craved individual like most professional basketball players so I can’t see this going over to well with him. This is HIS team and he will soon speak out and call it all a distraction……mark my word. I know, I know.....you buy the Cow you get the milk (is that how it goes??) and when we acquired you from the Lakers we were aware that you would continue filming your reality TV show with your wife, the adorable, “why are you a celebrity”, Khloe Kardashian.