Bad Blood, Unfinished Business Abound in Wednesday's NBA Reunions
Sometimes, November NBA basketball has the feel of an extended preseason, complete with the same inattention to detail, feeling-out process and general lack of urgency that characterizes the exhibition slate.
That won't be a problem on Wednesday.
There are 11 games on the Nov. 19 docket, and a disproportionate amount of them feature uneven amounts of the one thing that makes any game—even an otherwise mundane early season slogger—a whole lot more fun: lingering personal animosity.
Scores will be settled, daggers will be stared and messages will be sent. If we're lucky, there might even be a drink or two purposely spilled.
Mr. Kidd Goes to Brooklyn
Things have gone badly for the Brooklyn Nets lately—so badly that when Brook Lopez insists facing off against his former coach, Jason Kidd, is the least of the team's concerns, you can almost believe him.
"I think at this point, the way we’re playing, we’re definitely more concerned with ourselves," Lopez told Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game when asked about Kidd's Wednesday return to the Barclays Center.
Maybe that's true. After all, a four-game slide riddled with miscommunications, selfish play and an increasingly frustrated Lionel Hollins gritting his teeth through postgame pressers is the real story—one Kidd has very little to do with.
At the same time, the circumstances of Kidd's departure were messy. He angled for more power, didn't get it and was out of town seemingly overnight. The players he left behind could be forgiven for feeling at least mildly betrayed.
The negative fan sentiment is less mild:
Like Lopez, Kidd denies his return is worth discussing, per Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Everybody keeps talking about it. They’ve talked about it a little bit more. But it’s time to move on. It’s been almost five months now. Change happens. Players get traded, coaches get traded. It happens, it’s part of the business."
Turnover is part of the business in the NBA, but some exits are stranger and sloppier than others. Despite what parties on both sides are saying, there's bound to be some tension. And with the way Kidd's Milwaukee Bucks are playing (6-5, ranked fifth in the league in defensive efficiency), it's possible he'll want to take a moment or two to savor the satisfaction of his improved situation.
If he's out of timeouts, he can just spill another drink. Worked the first time.
Lance Revisits the Rubble
Lance Stephenson might not recognize the Indiana Pacers team he'll face on Wednesday.
After taking a three-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets over the summer (and reportedly turning down a longer contract with the same annual salary from the Pacers), Born Ready will square off against an injury-riddled Indy side missing Paul George, David West and George Hill.
The Pacers, remarkably, have outperformed Stephenson's Hornets to this point. Both squads feature 4-7 records, but Indiana's per-game differential of minus-1.7 points is significantly better than Charlotte's minus-5.7.
Stephenson has struggled mightily since changing teams, and it's hard to avoid pegging his weak performance as a major reason the Hornets—a playoff team a year ago—haven't exactly clicked in 2014-15. When you watch Lance stop the ball on offense so he can pound the dribble, it looks very much like the issue that caused Indiana's offensive collapse in the second half last season.
That'll bear watching when these teams square off, as Stephenson will be especially motivated to send a personal message to his former team. If his unpredictable offense and stat-hunting tendencies sink the Hornets in Indy, there'll be more than a few satisfied Pacers fans.
Roy Hibbert, who many believed was referring to Stephenson when he made his infamous "some selfish dudes in here" comments last season, has been performing like an All-Star this year. Despite being the focal point of every opponent (thanks to Indy's injuries), he's posting career highs in player efficiency rating, points and blocks per game, per Basketball-Reference.com.
It's not fair to say Hibbert is thriving because Stephenson is gone, but it would seem he's not missing his former teammate.
Here's hoping one of Lance's haphazard, herky-jerky drives results in a meeting at the rim with Big Roy.
New Classroom, Same Lesson
LeBron James has been a student of the San Antonio Spurs for years, and he'll go to school against those oh-so-demanding instructors with his new Cleveland Cavaliers teammates for the first time on Wednesday.
San Antonio has bounced James from the NBA Finals twice, and were it not for an improbable Game 6 implosion in 2013, the Spurs would have three rings at LBJ's expense.
James openly admires the Spurs' style, telling reporters after his latest Finals defeat: "They were the much better team. That’s what team basketball is and that’s how team basketball should be played."
Admiration notwithstanding, James is still a competitor, and he's got to be a little salty about the Spurs' pair of head-to-head championship wins.
That qualifies as bad blood.
Armed with younger teammates, LeBron must hope the Cavs' defense and chemistry—two major issues in this young season—sort themselves out ahead of the clash with San Antonio. If they don't, the Spurs machine will take in, process and excrete the young Cavaliers with typical cold efficiency.
That's an ominous thought for Cleveland fans, sure. But consider this: Even if San Antonio teaches James and the Cavs another harsh lesson in the value of experience and continuity, there was a a far worse alternative scenario.
The Cavs might not have James back in the fold if it weren't for San Antonio, per Sam Amick of USA Today:
"From Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert on down, they're thrilled that this is a what-if scenario rather than reality: James' former Miami Heat team gets the best of the Spurs again in the Finals, wins a third championship after its fourth consecutive Finals appearance and puts a world of pressure on James to re-sign as a free agent. The "Heatles," as they were known, would have had every reason to stick together and keep working toward the seven titles James famously said he was envisioning upon arrival in 2010.
"
James' ultimate goal should be to impart as many Spurs lessons as possible to his new team. The impending hands-on lesson is probably going to hurt, but in theory, it'll eventually help.
Try, Try Again
"Try me," Kobe Bryant shouted at Dwight Howard, shrugging and relaxed in his matter-of-fact way, when the two got into a heated exchange in an Oct. 28 meeting.
(There were other less gentlemanly words exchanged, which are not safe for work or polite society in general. They're here.)
Since then, Bryant's been the one trying—maniacally—to keep the Los Angeles Lakers in games during the young season. After dropping that opening contest to the Rockets by a final score of 108-90, L.A. has continued to struggle, collecting just two wins in what's been the worst start in franchise history.
It hasn't been for lack of effort on Kobe's part.
The 36-year-old leads the NBA in usage rate and shots, and the extent to which his teammates merely stand around and watch has been staggering. It's kind of hard to blame them; Bryant's one-man attack has been enthralling.
Howard's Houston Rockets (9-2) won't need any extra motivation to kick the Lakers while they're down (and they are so very down), but a 119-93 spanking from the West-leading Memphis Grizzlies on Monday should result in an effort-level spike.
There's legitimate animosity here, and unlike the other personal rivalries we'll see on Wednesday, the principles haven't tried to minimize the emotions involved. In addition to the Dwight-Kobe elbow-induced spat in October, we've heard D12 say he was "hurt and disappointed" by the way Bryant treated him when the two were teammates in L.A.
And Bryant hasn't minced words, well...ever.
Get ready for lip-reading fun in this one. Bryant and Howard have some unfinished business.
