NBA

The San Antonio Spurs easily defeated the Lakers, the big brother in the city of Los Angeles. The first round win by the Spurs was no big deal. Not a scent of a championship title could be detected by the Spurs at this juncture of the NBA title race. The Lakers were without Kobe Bryant and for all intent and purposes the Lakers was a depleted team whose cast of players were brought together to embellish and re-live dreams of championship glory for the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles. It was not to be.

San Antonio won the first round playoff series against the Lakers, but the series did not provide the test the Spurs needed to gage how they would perform against other competition or where they were as a team overall. The key factor was that the Spurs had made it to the second round despite the injuries and the recovery of key players. The Spurs were not playing to a level that had anyone predicting that the Spurs are contenders to win it all. Maybe not even the Spurs themselves believed they were the team to beat on the run for a NBA championship title.

With the series tied 1-1 after two and the pendulum now swings in the Indiana Pacers favor, the Miami Heat faces a pivotal Game 3 on Sunday, May 26, 2013 (next two games will be played in Indianapolis).  The game tips off at 8:30 pm eastern standard time and as much as Heat fans would not admit it, they are cringing. Case in point, last night I text my friend Jordan and asked if he was worried now the series  have switched to Indiana—his response was “LOL not a bit” but I know he is worried.You have to forgive me for calling him out— but I had to get him back for reminding me every day when the Heat was on its 27-game win streak that they are the best team in the NBA.

 
The Heat dodged a bullet this weekend—as the league have decided not to suspend Dwayne Wade for elbowing Indiana Pacers guard Lance
 
Stephenson in the head during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference on Friday. This is good news for the Heat who is going to need its big 3 to figure
 
out this “never say die” Pacer team; but it may not be enough to get them through the series.

Reasons Why Heat Fans Should Worry

Professional athletes are increasingly seeking out the right agents to help them develop their off the court brands. Those agents are not always the ones who are negotiating their team contracts. The most recent example of this emerging trend is NCAA Basketball National Player of the Year and Top NBA prospect, Trey Burke. Burke’s father, Benji Burke, of Infinite Sports Concepts, will handle Burke’s NBA team contract, but The Legacy Agency (“TLA”), a full service sports agency that has positioned itself as a leader in talent marketing,  will manage all of his off the court endeavors including marketing, endorsements, speaking engagements, and appearances.

The All-NBA team for the 2012-2013 season was announced today and the results were predictable.  Four of the players selected to this season’s first team, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul were also voted onto last year’s first team. Joining them on the first team this year is center Tim Duncan. He replaces Dwight Howard, who earned a spot on the 2013 third team.

Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker return to the second team from a season ago and are joined by Carmelo Anthony and Marc Gasol. The third team is comprised of Dwyane Wade, Howard and first-time selections David Lee, James Harden, and Paul George.

Players were selected for the honor by 119 sportswriters and broadcasters from Canada and the United States. They used a scoring system of 5 points for a first team vote, three for a second and one for a third. James led all players with 595 points and he was followed by Kevin Durant and Chris Paul who received 555 and 537 points respectively.

Indiana Pacers 49 - 32 vs. Miami Heat 66 - 16

Regular Season Series: Indiana Pacers 2, Miami Heat 1

The Miami Heat enters the Eastern Conference Finals as heavy favorites against the Indiana Pacers. They have lost only three times in their last forty eight games and have faced little resistance from their opponents thus far in the 2013 post season. However, the Pacers should give the Heat a fight in this series. They defeated the Heat twice in the regular season and have the interior size in center Roy Hibbert and forward David West to expose the Heat’s weakness in the paint.

This will not be an easy series for the Heat and they should not take the Pacers lightly.  Here are five observations that could decide the outcome of the series.

The willpower of Lebron James