Posts by Ben Detrick
-
![Brooklyn Nets]()
Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Opens for Business (and Basketball)
After years of grappling with eminent domain laws, entrenched homeowners, and Frank Gehry’s since-scrapped melty architectural imaginings, the Barclays Center was finally unveiled this morning. Accompanied by giant novelty scissors and a popgun burst of streamers, the ribbon-cutting ceremony capped off a cavalcade of celebratory speeches that were delivered overlooking the glowing hardwood court where […]
-
Revere the Beard: Efficiency Metrics and the Actual Value of James Harden
By the time the buzzer mercifully sounded in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the narrative for the Oklahoma City Thunder had already shifted. Previously a litter of precocious cubs, they are now full-fanged predators, expected to hunt down the ultimate prey. Outside of winning games, the foremost challenge will be keeping their brilliant nucleus […]
-
Andrew Bynum Starts Philadelphia’s New Age of Ambition
Philadelphia sports fans are regarded as a nasty bunch — jeerers of Santa Claus, cheerers of paralysis, heavers of battery acid at toddlers — but the only venom produced this week was a half-hearted “Beat L.A.” chant. Instead, Wednesday’s press conference introducing Andrew Bynum as a member of the Sixers was an adorable congregation of […]
-
Steve Nash and the NBA Relocation Program
On the first day of free agency, officials from the Toronto Raptors embarked from Nanookian lodges by snowplow to ambush Steve Nash at his annual charity event in New York City’s Chinatown. Undistracted by the aroma of pork and chives wafting out of nearby Prosperity Dumpling, they appealed to the Canadian citizen’s sense of patriotism. […]
-
NBA Offseason Mergers and Acquisitions: Northwest Division
Life moves pretty fast in the NBA offseason. Lucky for you, Ben Detrick is here to analyze, summarize, and euthanize all the head-scratching, cap-busting, Bird-righting free agency and draft moves. He’ll be checking on all the teams, division by division. For the Atlantic Division, click here. Today: the wild frontiersmen of the Northwest! Oklahoma City […]
-
NBA Offseason Mergers and Acquisitions: Atlantic Division
With the 2012 NBA draft completed and free agency now under way, several teams have given us glimpses into the direction of their offseason strategy. Let’s take a look at a few. You! No, You! OK … You! Similar to a desperate man prowling Lavo after last call, the Nets spent the beginning of the […]
-
Does Kevin Durant Have Too Much Kobe Bryant in Him?
Despite the Los Angeles Lakers’ irrelevance — the team has gone a dazzling 1-8 in second-round games over the last two years — the shadow of Kobe Bryant looms over the Finals. With five championship rings, he’s the aging embodiment of accomplishment, an icon of unapologetic individualism. During one televised broadcast, Magic Johnson suggested that […]
-
Are the Sixers the Next Thunder?
For the second year in a row, the Sixers’ season ended awash in the rosy glow of overachievement. It’s still an enchanting narrative, one that might feature Tom Berenger as Doug Collins in Basketball Educator: The Triumphant Ballad of Lavoy Allen. Yet again, the tough-but-golden-hearted headmaster led his plucky band of youngsters to new heights […]
-
No Love for the Brooklyn Nets Logo
A few days ago, photos surfaced of Jay-Z in a shirt emblazoned with the new logo for the Brooklyn Nets. Despite his very public ownership of a very small stake in the NBA franchise, there was reason for skepticism: mostly, the insignia appeared as if it were designed in MS Paint by Canal Street bootleggers. […]
-
Tankonia: The Bobcats Show the Knicks How to Lose
A couple weeks back, the Knicks’ Jared Jeffries suggested the Chicago Bulls were a more vulnerable playoff opponent than the Miami Heat. But even in an era where offhand comments are megaphoned into brash proclamations, no one cared. One reason Jeffries’s statement failed to cause much conflagration: He’s Jared Jeffries. The other? He was clearly […]
