LeBron Ready To Lead Cavs In East

Friday was the unofficial start to the new National Basketball Association season.

Yes, real games are slated to start in around five weeks but when its Cleveland Cavaliers media day you know basketball has arrived.

The summer league was a preview and the FIBA World Cup was a lay-up. The day Lebron James is introduced, means that things are about to get real.

I can't decide what was more surprising today. Was it seeing James in a yellow and red Cavaliers Uniform? Was it seeing a slimmed down version of James? Maybe it was seeing his new hairline peeking through his white headband?

I kept wondering why wear a headband if you just had hair replacement surgery. We all know you got it done. We all know you will have to keep getting it done and most importantly we all know you will eventually shave it all off. I hope Wayne Rooney of Manchester United fame is listening and I am sure Karl Malone of Rogaine fame can add his comments.

Today, what I find the most surprising are fans and the media alike questioning whether James can lead the Cavaliers to the NBA finals. I am shocked that some still believe basketball is purely a team game and that an individual can't make the biggest difference.

Since taking his talents to Ohio, James has been fielding questions about when and how he can get back to the finals with the Cavs and if he can win it all.

Do you think he would've come back if he didn't think he could immediately? Do you think he wasn't the one that orchestrated the Kevin Love trade?

He only chose Cleveland because he knew it gave him the best shot at winning this season.

Basketball is one of the few sports where one man can make a difference. Now some will say the San Antonio Spurs dispel that notion. Do you think the Spurs would have won their first title without Tim Duncan?

He changed a franchise that already had David Robinson on it. Do you think Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker would have had the same careers without Duncan? Do you think Gregg Popovich would be the coach he is without the 'Big Fundamental'? No, none of the above would be true.

James instantly makes the Cavs the best team in the East. By adding Love they are favorites to win the entire thing. Who will challenge them in the Eastern conference? 

It won't be the Paul George-less Indiana Pacers. 

The Toronto Raptors can't match-up and the Chicago Bulls are one slip away with Derrick Rose from falling back to the mediocrity stage. 

Yes, there is still the Miami Heat but we all know how that will end up with James taking out all his frustrations lighting up the scoreboard.

So let's end the talk of the Cavaliers needing time to get back to the finals. James and the Heat went there in his first season on South Beach with arguably less talented players.

Put your money on James. The east goes through Cleveland. Who would have thought that statement would ring true again?

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Can Social Media Predict The NBA's Future?

Before Lebron 'came home', remember how people clued in on his eventual decision to go back to the Cavaliers by his wife's Instagram post?

The NBA True Detectives could not contain themselves.

This was a clear prophecy of Lebron James' intent to return to “The Land”. All the answers were in that Instagram post.

How could anyone not see it at the time? 

And what about this Instagram post by Lebron himself, six months before he made his 'decision part deux'?

In his touching message to Dwyane Wade, he says “No matter what happens in the future, we stuck together like brothers for life.”

 NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS?

How were we so blind? The clues were all there.

He might as well as said, “Thanks for the rings, I'm out!” By the way, that “no matter what” line is almost a complete reworded rip off quote from the Michael Bay classic, “Bad Boys II”.

You are no Will Smith, Lebron. And, you are no Martin Lawrence, Dwyane Wade, which is good because Gabrielle Union would have been your sister in said movie.

As evident by Lebron's post; who else is leaving cryptic messages in various social media posts that could answer a lot of questions now?

For instance, Bench Guy founder, Donnie DaSilva wrote a great article, “Where's Rondo Going?” If we dissect some of Rondo's activities on Twitter, one may stumble across the answer.

Eh? Eh? What the hell is Rajon Rondo doing in Albany, INDIANA?

Indiana, the home of the Pacers? To buy fireworks? Puh-lease!

Who spends their July 4^th Holiday in Indiana unless they are from there?

A quick Wikipedia check told me, yup, he is from Louisville, Kentucky.

And then a google search told me that, Louisville is actually across a river from Albany, Indiana. 

So you would think the theory is debunked. Rajon Rondo is not going to the Indiana Pacers, right? Think again. Explain this post...

@darty24 asked “Who yo Favourite Comedian?” and Rajon answered Kevin Hart and Mike Epps. Everyone loves (well, some what) Kevin Hart but Mike Epps?

Black Doug from The Hangover? Naaaw, no way.

Rajon is meticulous with his Twitter responses as he is on the court.

There is a reason, he chose Mike Epps.

If you did not IMDB him by now, Mike Epps is from Indianopolis, Indiana.














The same city Rondo will demand a trade to in the coming months.

The stage has already been set. Rajon Rondo is ready to be an Indiana Pacer, well according to the interpretations of his twitter.


Another burning hot topic is, how will the Miami Heat do this season without Lebron?

Will they win another title this year?


Will they rise up without the king, and prove the strength of a TEAM is greater than any one individual?

We can venture into Chris Bosh's Instagram Posts to find the answer to that question.

Seems pretty clear cut, doesn't it?

No.

Many of us are hyper aware of Kevin Durant's impending free agency in 2016.

The All Star has been bombarded with questions of whether he was going to play for his home town Washington Wizards or even the suddenly popular dark horse, Toronto Raptors.

Filtering through a plethora of tweets and Instagrams, one will find that Andre Iguodola's post was most conclusive of Kevin Durant wearing a Raptor Uniform...

Will Kobe Bryant beat Father Time? Can he play in season 2024-2025?

This can be answered by a recent twitter post from the Black Mamba himself, observe...

In that video post, Kobe takes an ice cold water plunge bringing the ALS bucket challenge to a next level. But read between the lines guys, Kobe did not just do that to support ALSA.org.

No, Kobe is preparing to cryogenically freeze himself a la Demolition Man/Austin Powers to battle a new dynasty in the future.

A dynasty up north, in the form of Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Ennis, and other high flying Canadian Super Stars (none of whom will be named Kevin Durant) in Raptor uniforms. 

The clues are out there, pay attention or you'll be lost like Team USA observing a Hakka dance.

Join us next time, when we review, "Stephon Marbury the Musical: A Tale of Making It in Beijing"

Budda Perera

@Prabudda on Twitter and Instagram

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Where's Rondo Going?

Full disclosure: I’ve never been a  huge fan of Rajon Rondo’s game.  

While I respect his athleticism and feel that when healthy he may be the fastest man in the NBA from baseline to baseline … I just don’t like investing in a point that can’t shoot.

That’s my personal bias.

Rondo was considered mediocre (at best) during his rookie year before the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.  

Being surrounded by three hall of famers definitely opened up driving lanes and allowed him to even dominate games – because so much attention was being paid to 3 other positions.

If Rondo had spent his career in Denver or with the Clippers and had career averages of 11 and 8, people would say he was a “nice player”, but certainly not a superstar – or a max money player as he allegedly believes he is.

All that being said, Rondo does offer the unique ability to throw tight pocket passes and run the pick and roll.

Earlier today, news broke that Rondo wanted to be moved from the Boston Celtics – which of course begs the question, where will he end up?

Rondo wants to play for a contender or at the very least, a team on the upswing that is nearing the end of a rebuild.

A team acquiring Rondo should:

•           be heavily influenced with veterans who can keep his monstrous ego in check
•           have a coach that understands how to best utilize him, and how to hide his glaring weakness
•           have another point guard on the team who CAN shoot
•      a big with great hands that can finish in traffic and help Rondo rack up the assists

So, here are Rondo's top six options:

Houston Rockets:  The Rockets are perennial contenders, but haven’t had a dominant star point guard since … well, since ever.

Names like Kenny The Jet, John Lucas Jr, Sam Cassell, Aaron Brooks and Stevie “The most selfish man alive” Francis top the list of the best lead guards in that franchise’s history. 

They seemingly had that man when Kyle Lowry was in town, but battles with management had him branded as an asshole, and they shipped him out of town. 

They thought they were getting that backcourt igniter when they  acquired Jermey Lin, but that didn’t unfold the way they had hoped. 

No matter how good Dwight Howard and James Harden are in the half court, unless they have a 1 that can really control the pace, they won’t be advancing much further than the first round exist that had each of the last two seasons. 

No disrespect to Patrick Beverley.  He’s a nice player, but he’d be better served with more controlled minutes.

The Detroit Pistons have the enigmatic (and often under-performing) Brandon Jennings and their new piece – the savior of the Chicago Bulls 2014 season – DJ Augustin. 

If Augustin can reproduce his performance with the Bulls last season, he will be a valuable piece for Stan Van Gundy. 

With disgruntled forward Josh Smith under contract, it would seemingly make sense to send a package of Smith and Jennings for Rondo and another piece to make the money work.

Detroit had visions of a playoff run last season, but their 3 headed front court monster never really developed the way they had hoped, so it’s time to end that experiment and go with what has always served the Pistons best; dominant guard play.

Indiana Pacers.  In the minds of many George Hill is not the star guard he was once made out to be.  Hill struggled in large spots each of the last two seasons and has gone from “promising young star” to “the fifth guy on the floor”.

With Paul George out for the season, and Lance Stephenson running off to the Hornet hive, the Pacers are in desperate need of more athleticism and scoring.

Rondo could be that man, but the biggest question is what would the Pacers have to deal?  They’d love to unload Roy Hibbert, and Boston might think they can rejuvenate the big man, but if they unloaded Hibbert then David West becomes the number one option for Rondo down low?

West has had a solid career, but he is noticeably slowing down.

LA Lakers.  Let’s just say it.  The Steve Nash experiment was a colossal freaking disaster.  For an entire generation, the Lakers have relied on a dominant two guard (you know who), and a combination of different forwards who dominated to varying degrees.

During all of their highs and lows, they haven’t had an all star point guard since Gary Payton’s retirement tour of 2003. 

While the Lakers are in a rebuilding mode, and are in the treacherous Western Conference, they seem to have  more pieces than the Celtics do.  Perhaps the lore of the purple and gold would be enough to motivate Rajon.

The Sacramento Kings shocked everyone when they let young scoring point guard Isiah Thomas walk.

Their management group truly feels that with Rudy Gay, DeMarcus Cousins and company,  that they have the makings of a young upstart that will push the heavyweights to the limit. 

The question is, are they close enough to make a big play for a guy like Rondo, and would he be enough to move them into the playoff picture?

The New York Knicks do not look like a playoff team right now – even with their off season moves.

With a rookie head coach, and a group of massive egos that are somewhat dysfunctional, it could be a powder keg with Rondo playing the part of fuse.

Or, pairing him with veteran Jose Calderon (a prolific three point shooter) might be the perfect combination.  What Caldeon lacks in speed, Rondo could more than make up for – and Jose can shoot the lights out if teams start to sag on Rajon.

If Derek Fisher used a two guard front – they could be a deadly offensive tandem. 

When he was with the Celtics, Doc Rivers was a huge fan of Calderon’s and would talk about what a great fit he would have been for their team.  Certainly Doc was thinking along these same lines.

While this could all be nothing more than premature internet babble and Rondo could work things out with the C's, it seems clear that both sides would be happy to accommodate

a change.

Where do you think Rajon will end up this season?

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