Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indiana Pacers – Larry Bird Pulls Trigger Again; Based on Previous Deals, How’s Granger for Turner Look?

by Kent Sterling

Evan Turner and Danny Granger might pass one another flying between Indy and Philly today. How did Larry Bird do with this deal? Poll question is below.

Former all-star Danny Granger and his expiring contract head to Philly and former #2 overall pick Evan Turner and back-up power forward Lavoy Allen report to Indianapolis to try to push the Pacers over the top to the franchise’s first NBA Championship.

Some see the trade as prescient for Bird – an aging veteran with balky knees for a 25 year-old with length who can play some point forward and bring some defensive versatility. Others fear Bird might have tinkered with a good thing, and the chemistry of the team will suffer with the departure of some veteran leadership.

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Speculation without knowledge seems to be what the media seems to enjoy, so they guess at what effect the deal will have upon the Pacers ability to compete. Instead, let’s assume past is prologue and take a look at the deals Bird has closed during the periods where he was truly the architect of the team.

Bird has been wheeling and dealing on his own since Donnie Walsh originally left the team in April, 2008. A year long sabbatical began after the 2011-2012 season, and then Bird returned on June 27, 2013. Yesterday, he dealt Danny Granger to the Philadelphia 76ers. The jury will be out on that deal until the end of the season, but lets look at the rest of the trades Bird has made to evaluate what might be expected from this swap.

Here are the deals and trades over which Bird has presided (some have been simplified if the complexities have little to do with the result of the deal, and one involving the draft rights for Magnum Rolle has been discarded entirely):

July 27, 2013 – Pacers send Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee to the Phoenix Suns for Luis Scola.
June 28, 2012 – Pacers draft Miles Plumlee and acquire the draft rights to Orlando Johnson for cash.
March 15, 2012 – Leandro Barbosa acquired from the Toronto Raptors for a second round pick (Tomislav Zubcic).
December 19, 2011 – Pacers send Brandon Rush to Golden State for Lou Amundson.
June 23, 2011 – Pacers send draft rights to Kawhi Leonard and Davis Bertrans to Spurs for George Hill.
June 23, 2011 – Pacers draft Kawhi Leonard and Davis Bertrans.
August 11, 2010 – Pacers send Troy Murphy to Nets in four-way trade and net Darren Collison and James Posey
June 24, 2010 – Pacers draft Paul George, Lance Stephenson, and Ryan Reid.
June 25, 2009 – Pacers draft Tyler Hansbrough and A.J. Price
October 10, 2008 – Pacers acquire Eddie Jones for Shawne Williams in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks
July 9, 2008 – Pacers acquire Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and draft rights to Brandon Rush for Ike Diogu and draft rights to Jerryd Bayless.
July 9, 2008 – Pacers acquire T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and draft rights to Roy Hibbert for Jermaine O’Neal
June 26, 2008 – Pacers draft Jerryd Bayless and Nathal Jawal.

The keys to the development of the current team were jettisoning O’Neal for Hibbert, and the spectacular 2010 draft that brought George and Stephenson to the team. Hill for Leonard may be questioned for years, but right now it’s advantage Pacers.

Through his career as an executive, Bird has shown a willingness to trade pieces that do not fit for pieces that might. How many of the players he has sent away would an educated observer believe should return?

Scola for Green and Plumlee looked like a steal when it was made, and if the Pacers win the NBA Championship it will be validated, but it will be interesting to see what happens with Scola at the end of this season. Scola has a contract worth $4.5 million next year, and if the Pacers want to keep Stephenson or Turner, money will need to come from somewhere or someone.

The deal I really didn’t like much was the Bayless for Rush, Jack, and McRoberts. Turns out the trade was a mess for both the Pacers and Blazers. Bayless is on his fifth team in six years and Rush has not lived up to his silky smooth promise either.

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The smart money is that Bird knew exactly what he was doing yesterday, and that any chemistry concerns about Granger’s absence are overblown. He’s all in for 2013-2014, and the Pacers got a still young player who has a chance to do some things that Granger simply cannot.

Championship teams behave like winners, and winners get better when they can. The Pacers aren’t some club team that has earned the right to stay intact for a championship run. Bird has an obligation to owner Herb Simon to pursue every avenue possible to improve the quality of the roster, and that work resulted in him pulling the trigger on a deal that may pay big dividends this year, and provides some coverage for next year if Stephenson decides he would be happier elsewhere when he becomes a free agent.

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Indiana Pacers – Does Danny Grager for Evan Turner Mean Lancer Is Not the Answer?

by Kent Sterling

Evan Turner is coming to the Pacers in exchange for former all-star Danny Granger.

This is a deal that was hard to see coming. Most draft day trades are screwy little deals that don’t matter much, but Pacers forward Danny Granger for 76ers wing Evan Turner is a big deal.

While the Miami Heat have decided to stand pat, Pacers president Larry Bird has gone out and signed Andrew Bynum and traded for former #2 overall pick Evan Turner.

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If you are looking for any wisdom here about the level of play Turner will bring to the Pacers, I must confess like most NBA followers, the 76ers have not been on my radar. At 15-40, the 76ers are not on national TV much. Turner averaged 17.4 points per game and six rebounds, but those points came on 16 shots per game for a terrible team. What that converts to for the Pacers is better known by Bird than me.

Those are statistics, but the good or bad to this deal will be shown on the floor. Coming out of Ohio State, Turner appeared capable of being a point forward, and whether he can contribute toward a championship.

An interesting aspect of Turner’s acquisition is the qualifying offer of $8.7 million for 2014-2015. The Pacers could opt not to make a qualifying offer, and let Turner walk, but if they are unable to come to an agreement with soon-to-be free agent Lance Stephenson this deal gives them a way to hold on to a good player.

If the Pacers are able to sign Stephenson, Turner can move on as an unrestricted free agent.

This is Bird being Matt Damon’s character in “Rounders”. He’s staring Pat Riley as “KGB” right square in the eye, and going all in. Anyone who doubted that Bird has the stones to do everything possible to win the title right here and right now should be convinced otherwise.

Lavoy Allen comes to the Pacers as well. If my expertise on Turner is limited, what do you think I know about a back-up power forward for one of the worst teams in the NBA? A couple of things we do know about Allen – he’s a good scorer at the four, and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season.

Indiana Pacers – 8-6 Over Last Month, But Not Time for Fans to Panic

by Kent Sterling

Paul George and the Pacers have 28 games left in what might be the prelude to a championship.

There are 82 games in an NBA regular season. Bringing great focus to each one is not possible for sane and balanced people.

During a season, there are up nights, down nights, and mediocre nights. The Indiana Pacers had a whole lot of good during the early portion of the season when they opened with nine straight wins. There has been very little bad, but the mediocre is creeping into what fans hope is a championship season.

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The Pacers are 8-6 in games played since January 20th – one month ago today. Two of those losses have come to Phoenix, and one each to Dallas, Denver, Orlando, and Minnesota. The Suns and Mavericks are good Western Conference teams, but the Nuggets, Magic, and Timberwolves all have sub .500 records, and represented tests the Pacers should have passed.

While it would be good for fans – and great for gamblers – if NBA teams won every game they are supposed to, that doesn’t always happen, and who’s to say who should win every game? Sure teams are favored, but there are no amateurs on the floor during an NBA game. No professional should step onto the floor knowing they are going to lose.

There are going to be ups and downs for every team, and the Pacers really haven’t had a down. They’ve had some sideways, but not many downs.

Partly because of their recent run of average play, and partly because they were dominant during the early portion of the season, the Pacers still hold a two-game advantage over the two-time defending champion Miami Heat.

There are two games remaining against the Heat, so home court is now in their control, but did anyone expect that the Heat would willingly recede into the Pacers shadow? Love or hate them, the Heat haven’t won championships because they allow teams to psychologically beat them.

Michael Jordan’s 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls were the only team I’ve seen bring it every single night. Not only did the finish with an all-time best 72-10 record, but took only 18 games to steamroll through Miami, New York, Orlando, and Seattle in the playoffs to begin their second three-peat.

Even more incredible, the Bulls lost only one game by more than 10 points, and their last three defeats were each by a single point. That team lost one game badly, a 102-74 nightmare to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden that likely still keeps Jordan awake at night.

The next six games loom large for the Pacers as four are at home, and all but one are against the league’s bottom feeders. After that, the Pacers play 14 of their last 22 on the road with two against the Heat.

Two of the last three games of the regular season are against the Heat and Oklahoma City. If the Pacers want to salt away home court, beating teams with losing records is a must, and the more decisive the wins, the more minutes David West, Roy Hibbert, and Paul George can sit to save themselves for the tough games.

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It’s said that early games during an NBA season measure talent, and that games late in the season measure heart and discipline. If that’s true, the Pacers have plenty of talent, and over the next 28 games will find out whether they have the cardiac capacity to capture home court throughout the playoffs.

And once the playoffs start, it will get really interesting. That’s when the Pacers and their fans will find out if they are champions.

Chicago Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts Says His Team Ready for Playoffs, and I’m ready to Take His Cash!

by Kent Sterling

If Cubs owner Tom Ricketts really believes the Cubs will win enough games to qualify for the playoffs, he can sack up and pay up.

It has long been said that the Chicago Cubs can drive the sane completely mad. What owning the team can do was anyone’s guess until today when Cubs owner Tom Ricketts told the media, “I think we have a team right now that can go to the playoffs.”

Predicting victory is a screwy choice when a team is capable of it, but for a team coming off the worst three-year run in the sad and tormenting history of the franchise is the act of a loon or liar.

The Cubs made no meaningful additions to the roster that opened 2013, and traded virtually all of the parts in which anyone showed serious interest, and are expected to deal soon-to-be 2014 opening day starter Jeff Samardzija before the trade deadline.

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Ricketts continued, “The whole organization has a great vibe right now, from top to bottom. Everybody knows we have a lot of talent coming up. Everyone knows we’ve got some young guys that are going to step up this year and perform. We’ve got energetic new management. It’s a great energy.”

I will wager $100,000 today that the Cubs will not go to the playoffs if Ricketts offers me $100K when the Cubs lose their 90th game. If neither happens, it’s a wash. To raise the $100K, I would have to sell my house, and everything in it. For Ricketts, $100K is 1% of the new revenue generated by the Cubs new signage deal with Anheuser Busch. Still a great deal for me.

Give me a call, Tom. Happy to take your walking around cash.

The Cubs have functioned under Ricketts as the Kansas City Royals used to. Anyone who makes more than a living wage and has value is dealt for prospects.

There is only one type of guy easier to hate than a silver spooner, and that’s a silver spooner who lies through his teeth every time his lips move. The very least fans should be able to expect from the head man at Wrigley Field is a dose of honesty that might temper expectations for those not yet old enough to understand that all major league ballplayers are not created equal.

My Dad took me to my first Cubs game just after I turned six. He gave me his scorecard and pencil, and told me to get an autograph from the Reds player standing next to the fence. I ran to the rail, stuck out my card and pencil, and the Red happily signed. When I got back to my seat, Dad was laughing. The Reds player from whom I copped an autograph was none other than Fred Whitfield. The guy next to him was Pete Rose.

I didn’t know the difference because my only exposure to professional baseball was via a 19-inch black and white TV. What’s Ricketts’ excuse?

Ricketts has evolved as a gasbag over his four-plus years as the owner of the team he famously became a fan of while living across Addison fromWrigley Field, and his bleating has become more and more annoying.

He began his reign of competitive poverty by insisting that he would invest in talent. So far, he has lived up to his word by awarding extensions to both Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo. Castro paid off by watching trains go by while at shortstop and notching an OPS of .631, which only qualifies as mediocre because Darwin Barney’s was a rancid .569. Rizzo hit .233. Did Ricketts invest? Yes, but he promised to invest in talent.

See what I did there?

With today’s comments, Ricketts is now drawing suspicion as to whether he might be a danger to himself. Lying is one thing, but misrepresenting the potential of your team by nearly 30 wins is the act of a fool, nut, or sociopath.

That he believes anyone would take his bizarre assurances seriously speaks to his low regard for the intellect of Cubs fans.

Buying tickets to watch his product confirms his belief that we are easily buffaloed lemmings

ESPN’s Dick Vitale Calls for Resumption of Indiana vs. Kentucky Series

by Kent Sterling

This shot caused two things – an Indiana win over Kentucky, and the end of the series.

Dick Vitale wants Kentucky and Indiana to agree to play one another in a four-year series – one game each in Assembly Hall, Rupp Arena, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and the Yum! Center in Louisville. He also wants cancer to stop killing kids.

The last time the two teams played a regular season game in late 2011, Indiana beat the top-ranked Wildcats on a buzzer beating three-pointer by Christian Watford. The crowd rushed the floor, and John Calipari has squawked that the lack of security at Assembly Hall put the health of his players, coaches, and fans at risk.

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Calipari claims that was the reason he refused to return to Assembly Hall, and Indiana has refused to abandon the home and home scheduling because, they say, it’s unfair to the students to take a marquee home game away from them. In chess, that’s called a stalemate.

Vitale wants Calipari and Tom Crean to figure out how these two programs can resume a rivalry that is so important to so many fans and players.

For the last two decades before the series’ end Indiana vs. Kentucky wasn’t what it was back in the 1970s and 1980s until Watford hit the shot. From December, 1993, through the end of the regular season series, Kentucky won 14 and Indiana only five. Indiana was ranked in the top 25 for eight of those games, while UK was ranked 15 times.

The high school all-star series between Indiana and Kentucky prep stars has ebbed in the opposite direction. In the last 18 all-star games, Indiana has won 17 with future stars like Mike Conley, Eric Gordon, Greg Oden, Gary Harris, all of the Zellers, Jeff Teague, Courtney Lee, E’Twaun Moore and others starring for Indiana.

Vitale appeared on Dan Dakich’s radio show on 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis, and said that he talked to Calipari last Friday about the resumption of the series, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

Dakich suggested that if the coaches and athletic directors can’t get it done, the two university presidents should sit down and figure this out.

This would be a particularly nice event for Indiana fans who would like to see the Hoosiers play a non-conference schedule that is less cupcake and more steak. While Kentucky played Michigan State, Baylor, North Carolina, and Louisville, Indiana’s only ranked opponents were Syracuse (mandated by the ACC/Big Ten Challenge) and Connecticut. Interestingly, the only preseason game won by Kentucky or Indiana was the Lousiville vs. UK – the only game of the six to be played at either Rupp Arena or Assembly Hall.

Indiana fans would happily accept games against any major conference opponent rather than the parade of teams with RPI’s ranked 200 or lower, and if Kentucky is one of those – all the better.

Here’s a good way to assess non-conference opponents – if the AD can’t guess correctly what the mascot of a potential opponent is, they are ineligible to visit. Quick, what are the mascots for LIU-Brooklyn, Kennesaw State, Stetson, Samson, Stony Brook, North Florida, and Nicholls State? I know North Florida is the Ospreys because it is so unusual, and Stetson should be the Hats. Other than that, I’m drawing a blank, and I covered three of those games.

Vitale is constantly raising money to beat cancer, and does great work on behalf of kids with cancer. Click here to learn about how you can give to help Vitale end cancer – pediatric cancer specifically.

The least we can do is help a guy who fights for quality college basketball fight against something far more insidious. Indiana and Kentucky fans don’t agree about much, but the fight against cancer that attacks children is a pretty good place to start.

Why Is Jeff Fisher So Convinced Sam Bradford Can Be an Elite Quarterback?

by Kent Sterling

Sam Bradford should smile as he is scheduled to receive $17-million in 2014, but will he?

In every interview I’ve heard St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher give since accepting the job two years ago, he has been asked the same question, “Is Sam Bradford your quarterback?”

There are permutations of that question, like “Is Sam Bradford your long-term answer at quarterback?” or “Do you think Sam Bradford can become an elite quarterback?”, but they all imply the same thing – that Bradford is grossly overpaid, and has not delivered on the promise he had as the top pick of the 2010 NFL Draft.

When Fisher was asked on Mike and Mike Tuesday morning, he was as emphatic as always, “Sam’s doing great with the rehab,” Fisher said. “He’s really excited. He took on a leadership role last year and he’s maintained that and he’s our quarterback, and we’ve said that.

“We talk about extensions with all our players under contract,” Fisher said. “Whether or not we do so with him, I don’t know where all this came from, but Sam’s our quarterback. He’s going to be under center.”

Why do the Rams continue to insist that Bradford can raise the level of his game to where it justifies his massive cap number?

In 2013, Bradford tore his ACL in the seventh game of the season and that left the rest of the season to journeyman back-up Kellen Clemens. The Rams record with Bradford as QB – 3-4. The Rams record with Clemens – 4-5.

The Rams offense adjusted to Bradford’s absence by running the ball more often and with more success. In games that Bradford started, the Rams gained 100+ yards on the ground one time, against the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars (they are in the process of petitioning the NFL to include “woeful” as part of the franchise’s name). With Clemens under center, they ran for 100+ yard eight times, so crediting Clemens for leading the Rams as Bradford did is spurious.

But over the course of his four-year career, Bradford has never excelled, and when he turns 27 in November, he will enter the prime of his career. He posted the best numbers of his career prior to the injury with a passer rating of 90.9, 14 TDs, and four interceptions, but that career best passer rating still only ranked 11th in the NFL. His QBR, which measures total contribution to the offense, was a sub-par 48.05, ranking him 23rd.

The excuses roll off the tongue by rote for anyone who has spent 15 minutes researching Bradford. He has never had weapons, the offensive line is terrible, and his rotating offensive coordinators over the years have kept him from building any consistency.

As a comparison, in two seasons after being the #1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts, quarterback Andrew Luck has led his team to back-to-back 11-5 records with trips to the playoffs. Luck has had the same challenges – different OCs, receivers without a track record of excellence (especially after Reggie Wayne suffered a torn ACL), and an offensive line that makes the Rams group look like the Seven Blocks of Granite.

Rams management continue to sign and draft lineman, receivers, tight ends, and running backs, but none seem to allow Bradford to flourish. Whatever the cause, over the course of his 49 game career, Bradford has managed only ten 100+ passer rating games.

And whatever prompts that Bradford question from the media, Fisher must be tired of answering it.

Bradford is going to cost the Rams over $17 million in 2014, and they have two first round picks, including the #2 overall pick. If the Rams cut Bradford, the dead money hit would be just over $7.2 million spread over 2014 and 2015, so regardless of whether Fisher enjoys the question being asked or not, it is a really good one.

Cutting Bradford or renegotiating his 2014 number down both remain options that might be superior to paying the previously mediocre QB elite money.

Bradford was the last of the #1 overall picks that received a huge initial contract, and the money paid to him has caused the Rams trouble in building elsewhere. Armed with a solid young defense, and a really young offense, drafting a quarterback #2 to replace the overpaid Bradford might be the correct answer the next time Fisher is asked.

Indiana Basketball – Assembly Hall Ceiling Panel Falling Could Have Closed Arena Forever

by Kent Sterling

Had a 50-pond hunk of metal fallen 6 1/2 hours later, this would have been a grisly scene long remembered.

The immediate reaction to the 50-pound ceiling panel crashing into the seating area of Indiana University’s Assembly Hall 6 1/2 hours before tip-off against the Iowa Hawkeyes was “Thank God it didn’t come loose when the stands were full.”

People would have almost certainly have been killed, and Assembly Hall would have been recalled forever as the building where fans were rewarded for their fandom with an untimely demise.

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A stigma would have been attached to Indiana Basketball for eternity, and worse – much worse – several families would have lost loved ones.

And it’s possible that Assembly Hall would have been shuttered as the safety of fans could not have been guaranteed. Without the ability to provide people with a reasonable expectation of living through an event, the renovation planned for the arena would have become moot.

The stench of tragedy might have forced the doors to close on Assembly Hall.

But the worst case scenario did not become a tragic reality, and there will be basketball in Bloomington tonight with the seating areas where the remaining panels similar to that which fell are examined to ensure safety.

The next men’s game schedule to be played in Assembly Hall doesn’t come until March 2nd when Ohio State visits, so the engineers have 11 days to make sure another 50-pound projectile doesn’t come loose and plummet into the student section.

It was easy to look at what happened yesterday as a harmless fluke until I spoke with a member of IU’s athletic department last night. I sent him a text about the bad run of luck that had come the Hoosiers’ way over the past week, and his call was to gently admonish me for seeing this potential tragedy as running parallel with the loss of a couple of basketball games and Hanner Mosquiera-Perea’s OWI.

He drew a parallel between what might have been 6 1/2 hours later with a concert by The Who in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979 that cost 11 lives. It would have also been a much less costly version of what occurred just over 50 years ago at the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis where 74 people were killed because of a building collapse caused by a propane tank explosion.

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Indeed, this is not an event where levity has any place, especially not for those who know Assembly Hall as their workplace, or take their responsibility for the safety of those who attend games to forget their problems. Yesterday, was a nightmare averted and it is going to be a long time before anyone in Bloomington laughs about Assembly Hall falling apart.

The possibility that Assembly Hall may have been closed permanently if lives had been lost was advanced during that conversation, and while I think people would have eventually been satisfied that the current building had been rendered safe, there certainly would have been an acceleration to the renovations planned for the 42 year-old building.

So Indiana University gets a mulligan – a chance to inspect and repair the damage evidently done by the worst winter in recorded history. They get to take a deep breath, give engineers a chance to go to work so that no finger-crossing is needed on March 2, and host the last three men’s events of 2014.

Fans will doubtless look warily toward the ceiling a few times, at least during their first game back, and then turn their attention to basketball.

The Hoosiers dodged the kind of bullet whose wound would not have easily – if ever – healed.

Indiana Basketball – Game with Iowa Postponed as Assembly Hall Ceiling Panel Falls

by Kent Sterling

With a full Assembly Hall, almost certain death would have been the result for at least one sitting where the ceiling panel broke seats.

Thank God the metal plate that crashed from the rafters of Assembly Hall’s south end fell when it did. Reminders about keeping the importance of Indiana Basketball in perspective don’t need to come with the loss of life during a game.

Six and a half hours later, and at least one death would have been the likely result.

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Indiana athletic Director Fred Glass spoke with ESPN an hour ago about what measures will be taken to determine the cause, and make sure there is no need for fans at future games to look toward the ceiling to pray for anything but a Hoosier win, “Well, we’ve had our university engineer here, we’ve actually had an outside consulting engineer review too. It’s pretty speculative at this point, but they think it’s probably weather related issue that forced that plate out.

“They advised us not to hold the event tonight,” Glass said. “Of course, safety is our number one priority, so we won’t hold the game tonight. We’ll see about the women’s game tomorrow night and so forth, but we’re going to work around the clock to evaluate the problem, fix the problem. We think we’ll have a good evaluation by the engineer as soon as midday tomorrow.

“We’ll have an outside consulting engineer here, Glass continued. They will make visual inspections from the floor. We’ll bring in special equipment so they can get up right next to the facing that appears to be the issue to do a physical and visual inspection. They will make a determination of what the causes are, and then we’ll fix it.”

What will determine when this game will be rescheduled?

“The information from the engineers, Glass told ESPN. “We’ll get out of their way, and make the resources available for all the right people to get in as quickly as they can, and then as soon as we get the information back from them and get it fixed and get it all clear, we’ll look to work with Iowa and the Big Ten to reschedule the game, and of course we have our women’s game tomorrow night too, and we’ll make a determination about that as quickly as we can.”

The men’s team doesn’t have another game at Assembly Hall until March 2nd against Ohio State, so there should be plenty of time for workers to address any non-profound structural issues that might give fans reason for worry.

Life is all about timing. Thankfully, Indiana’s timing was solid six hours before fan started to show up to watch the Hoosiers try to end its three-game losing streak.

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LeBron James Wants More Time Off – Misses Critical Detail of Owner/Player Relationship

by Kent Sterling

No thumbs up for LeBron James on his request for more days off, or for Adam Silver for revealing such a ridiculous conversation took place.

Shiny new NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN Radio that LeBron James would like a longer all-star break to spend time with his family.

James is the face of the NBA and will continue to be until he retires, at which time he will have as much time off as he needs. Because of his status, Silver needs to at least pretend to listen to the selfish rants of a pampered athlete, and for some reason felt the need to share this tidbit with the world.

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The NBA has been pretty good to James, who will have earned $129,155,913 in his career when the 2013-2014 season wraps up, and if he continues to be employed by the Miami Heat through the various options in his current contract, will cash checks totaling another $61,770,000.

At that point, James will be 31 years-old.

The money James makes through marketing because of his status in the NBA and world basketball community adds significantly to his war chest.

But as long as James’ name is at the top left of check instead of the lower right, he’s an employee instead of an employer. I know that James came into the NBA right out of high school and never mowed lawns or scooped ice cream for a little extra scratch as a teen, but the most important rule in business is to listen to your employer, especially when it pays you $232,530.49 every time you show up for a game.

The best of us forget that from time-to-time, and certainly a guy under 30 who has already pocketed more than $200 million (all in) can decide to do whatever he likes with his life, but right now James is an exceptionally well-paid and respected employee.

James might not like it, but for now he’ll need to do what he’s told when he’s told to do it. Playing basketball is a tough life – so much money, such nice hotels, all that dribbling and shooting, and the adulation must be exhausting.

There is no doubt that players actually do work very hard – most of them – to stay in shape and improve their skills, and I have no doubt James is among the hardest working. The best at something usually works the hardest, but this request reflects a outrageous level of entitlement.

The sheer balls and cluelessness it took to walk up to the commissioner of your league to complain about the 82-game schedule is stupefying. No, James doesn’t get a minimum of five days off for the all-star break like his less talented, less well-compansated brothers, but 110-games or so over a nine-month period certainly leaves some free time.

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James’ request is incredibly self-centered even by the standards of pampered professional athletes, much less the faceless fathers who work a double shift for the privilege of investing their hard earned money buying tickets so they can treat their sons and daughters to a night watching him play.

Asking professional athletes to put themselves in the shoes of the fans who one way or another fill their wallets, but it would be nice if once in a long while a guy like James would make the effort. Might be even nicer if Silver knew enough about public relations to keep a conversation like he had with James to himself.

Indiana Basketball – Hoosiers Have Unique Opportunity to Look Into the Abyss and Begin Climb Out

by Kent Sterling

Talk of hanging another National Championship is gone, but as long as there are more games, there is a chance to learn.

The best part of participating in sports as a part of a college education is the almost relentless confrontations with adversity that present themselves. Fight or flight is a choice college athletes make everyday – sometimes more than once each day.

Should they stay at their original school? Should they continue to practice with focus? Should they continue to do the extra work needed to improve more quickly than opponents – or teammates? Should they trust the coach who sometimes sounds like a nut? Should they drag their tired asses to class after a late game the night before? Should they be careful about the stuff they put in their bodies?

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The questions that require mature answers separate success from failure, and they are never-ending. For basketball players at Indiana, the results of those choices play out in front of 17,472 at Assembly Hall and a national TV audience of alums and fans.

Indiana has had a tough season so far. No one is thrilled with a 4-8 Big Ten record, and the easy pre-conference schedule has more to do with the 14-11 overall mark than any semblance of excellence in November or December.

There is a choice facing the Hoosiers today as they prepare to play #15 Iowa at 9p tonight at Assembly Hall. Should they compete for the final six games, or bail on the season, each other, and the coaching staff?

No doubt the Hoosiers believed they would never find themselves at this precipice of doom when the season began. I remember thinking when listening to players and coaches at Media Day, “Boy, this team sure thinks highly of itself. I hope they’re right.” Each spoke passionately about the effect the new length and athleticism would have on their ability to compete at a high level, and the predictions were, let’s just say, aggressively vague.

That confidence didn’t quite reach a level of arrogance and was definitely short of hubris, but it was hard to buy into thinking that despite losing 70% of their scoring and rebounding, and virtually all of its leadership, Indiana was actually going to be as good or better than they were in 2013.

To this point, Indiana has not shown itself worthy of the talk dispensed on that October day, but there is still time – lots of time to show something more than the losses to Penn State, Illinois, Northwestern, and Nebraska – lot’s of time to show that wins over Wisconsin and Michigan weren’t flukes.

What success requires at this point is a toughness, a collective will, and a passion for what they are doing that can change the dynamic. But do they have the intestinal fortitude to respond to a tough session of looking in the mirror to decide that the examination and corrective measure is worth the result?

There are moments for every athlete where adversity provides a test of character, and the first failure is usually not the last.

The difficulty lies in the fact that in the middle of February, the tonnage of hard work wears raw the soul of a weak competitor. Games now are a test of endurance, not skill. All those practices, games, travel, and sacrifice – are they worth it?

Indiana forward Hanner Mosquiera-Perea answered that question last Thursday night when he got behind the wheel of a car with a blood alcohol content of greater than .15 (the measurement at the time of his booking), and he was likely not the only one. He just had the misfortune – or stupidity – necessary to be the only one caught.

So tonight is one of seven tests remaining for a group of kids who have underachieved. Tom Crean can’t make them care. The Crimson Guard can’t make them care. Only an internal burning can bring to a rage the competitive fire needed to reverse course.

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Indiana has lost five-of-seven because of their poor level of play, and if the players find the steel needed to overcome themselves as obstacles, they will have learned the kind of life lesson that makes playing a sport while performing as a full-time student very worthwhile.

Mailing it in from tonight through the end of the season only cheats themselves of the chance to grow as players and men.