Bowen better not mess with King James
I was thinking about the Bruce Bowen-LeBron James matchup that will take place in the upcoming NBA Finals, and I came across the video below. It's Bowen, one of the league's premier defenders, teaching defensive fundamentals.
It's nice, isn't it? I might even make sure I have all the youngsters I coach watch it next year since it covers many of the things I try to teach.
But, um, Bruce you, left out a few of your better tricks. Like this one. Or this one. Or maybe this one. Or one of these. Or even this one. Or, finally, this one.
Point is, Bowen is a dirty player. If you want to argue otherwise, you're either a Spurs fan or you're blind.
Anyway, Bowen will get the assignment of dealing with King James beginning Thursday night. I'm interested to see how the NBA deals with Bowen if he starts reaching into his bag of dirty tricks to try to slow him down.
Bowen has gotten off lightly so far this postseason. His cheap shots at Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix went unpunished, and led the Suns to eventually lose their cool and lose, led Stoudemire to get himself suspended, and helped lead the Spurs to a win in the Western Conference semifinals.
I suspect, however, that David Stern and the officials he assigns to these games won't be so lenient during the finals. We are talking about LeBron James here, the guy who could very well be the biggest star and the most marketable player in the league for the next 15 years.
Stern is a marketing genius, and he has always been concerned about the image of his league. That is why the rules are in place enforcing mandatory suspensions for players who leave the bench during on-court altercations. It's why there is a player dress code.
It's also why I think he won't tolerate anyone trying to injure the guy around whom Stern can market the NBA for at least the next decade. Apologies to Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Greg Oden, etc., but King James is the meal ticket.
He's young, personable and phenomenally talented. Whether the Cavs win or lose this series he could be the face of the league for years to come.
Stern is not going to look kindly on Bruce Bowen messing with that.
1 comments:
Well said.
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