The Sun Never Sets on the Spurs Empire

The San Antonio Spurs have, with the impending introduction of LaMarcus Aldridge all but announced the twilight of Tim Duncan. For most teams with a declining, once in a generation, superstar this would be the part where the team has to pick up whatever is left and begin the long rebuilding process again. For the Spurs, however, they are gearing up to hand the keys to the dynasty over to the next generation who, in the care of Coach Popovich, will carry it on for the next five years.

Here is how it could work. This year the Spurs look poised to make a title run. Their projected starting line up for the upcoming season is Tony Parker at Point guard, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard at the wings, and LaMarcus Aldridge and Tim Duncan as the Big men. Their Reserves will include Patty Mills and Ray McCallum at Point, Manu Ginobili at the wing and Boris Diaw, David West, and Matt Bonner and backup big men. This leaves the traditional San Antonio Big 3 in tact, showcases rising superstars Leonard and Aldridge, and keeps the familiar - championship winning - faces of Mills, Diaw, and Bonner as the supporting cast around around them. That is a very deep, very scary team. One that is reminiscent of  both their past championship teams and of last years championship winning Golden State team.

If the Spurs do in fact win a title, a big IF for any team, it could easily mark the end of the Duncan era. This week Duncan signed a new contract for two years with a player option for the second year. The indication is that the Spurs have (at least) two years left to win Duncan his 6th Title before he retires in full glory. The Spurs would then continue with Aldridge and Leonard leading the charge.
None of this is set in stone and two years in the NBA is an Eternity, (see Lin, Jeremy) but with Coach Pop, Leonard and Aldridge under contract till at least 2014, the Spurs Organization has set itself up to be a contender for the at least the next 4 years. 

Introduction to Sports Leadership: Lebron James

In case you missed it Lebron James, the best basketball player in the world, left the NBA's second best team to join the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the NBA’s worst teams. On the Cavaliers is one of the most exciting young players in the League, one Kyrie Irving. Irving plays point guard, a high profile position because point guards often have the ball in their hands. Lebron James technically is a small forward but he has played just about every position known to basketball. James is a dynamic playmaker and the on-court pressure will be for him to play a sort of point-forward and take on the responsibilities of the point guard by having the ball in his hands the majority of the time. If he wants to win over his young all-star teammate and lead his team to maximizing their potential, he may be better off releasing some of the limelight he just learned to embrace and empowering Irving to flourish.

When James first came into the League with the Cavaliers, He was criticized for shying away from the big moment even though he led a team of nobodies to the NBA finals. Many criticized his decision to sign with Miami as hiding in the shadow of proven champion Dwayne Wade. The criticism may have been accurate, but during his four years in Miami James matured enough to become the team leader and go-to player that critics had challenged him to become. His second NBA Title run was in part the result of his maturity and the subsequent Finals loss to the Spurs the next year showed how much his talented team had come to depend on him as a player and as a leader. When he decided to leave Miami this summer there were no questions about whether or not he could lead a team to a championship.

In his return to Cleveland, the challenge facing Lebron James is not to become the alpha dog that every professional athlete is told they need to be. Instead the challenge is to use his power to allow his young team to flourish. Kyrie Irving and recent number one overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins top the list of young Cavaliers with potential. They are a young team in need of a veteran leader to help them mature both on and off the court. The maturing process, and it is a continual process, always means bumps in the road that allow character to develop. In the instant gratification world of professional sports James will be tempted to try to do everything for his team to make them a contender right away. He may spend a lot of energy and frustration dragging his teammates to greatness. If James succumbs to the pressures of the NBA culture he will burn out very quickly. Furthermore, he will not be using his gifts to their maximum potential.

James is one of the elite playmakers in the NBA. He is dangerous on the offensive end of the floor more because of his ability to set up his teammates than through his individual scoring prowess. Furthermore, James does not need the ball in his hands for very long to set up his teammates. His ability to create for his teammates without dominating possession could allow Kyrie Irving, one of the League’s premier ball-handlers, to work in the area of his strength as a point guard while relieving the burden Irving has felt as the only playmaker on the team. James has the opportunity to develop some of the brightest young talents in the game by drawing on-court defensive pressure and setting up his teammates to play their game. He will need to absorb the off court pressure to take over his new team by the horns if he wants to be the leader that allows his team to flourish.

On Modesty

If you question how much of a sex symbol the Woman is in american culture, go to a beach and count the men wearing speedos, then count the women wearing bikinis. The level of immodesty in American culture goes along with the level of promiscuity and both are abhorrent. I have found that a more conflicting issue is the demand for women to be sexy that men are free of. Conversely as christian men, why do we disaprove of women walking around in skimpy outfits while we se nothing wrong with baring our own chests on a hot day?
   in the summer, my father will often take his shirt off inside our house when he is hot. i often do the same thing. but i wonder what my father would say if one of my sisters walked around the house in a sports bra. part of me feels immediately like that senario is wrong and needs to be fixed, but really, what is the difference? im not sure that the answer is to make it socially acceptable for women to walk around topless, but perhaps we as men, ought to consider our level of modesty a bit more.