Sounding off on the NBA

  I've rarely (read: I can only remember one) wasted time formulating thoughts about the NBA here on WRT (besides that one time I remember in April, when the Spurs were about to TKO the dimwitted, Mark Cuban-led Mavs), and this story I just came across backs my decision to ignore the NBA altogether in this type of forum.

  Time to sound off.

  Yahoo! Sports writing Kelly Dwyer reported yesterday that the NBA has banned players donning their headbands upside down - a trend apparently started in 2007.  Apparently, you aren't ballin' unless you flip that Jerry West logo upside down.  I am still trying to wrap my head around how the hell this actually constitutes a story in this early NBA season. 

  Here's two things I'd rather write about concerning the NBA:

  1. The fact that the Celtics original and older Big 3 defeated Miami's new and improved Big 3 in Boston on opening night and the very next night, the LeBron-less Cavs beat the original Big 3 in Cleveland.  Parity. 

  2. The Knicks and Nets won their openers and are sitting atop the Atlantic.  The last time this happened?  Funny enough, it was only the 2008-2009 season (NYK def. Mia 120-115; NJ def. Was 95-85).

  I digress.

  Rajon Rondo (known primarily for being a great PG and secondly for his headband-wearing) has decided against sporting his headband - simply because he wants to wear it upside down.  Maybe in some past life, he was a ninja (see: SF Giants closer Brian Wilson's 12-minute ninja class) and was able to stand on his head, but something inside me highly doubts that.

  Wearing the logo of the league you play for, the one that includes the team that pays you millions of dollars a year to dribble, pass first, and shoot second, is straight disrespectful.  Utterly disrespectful.  Wear it right or don't wear it at all (which is exactly what he did).  The equivalent of this is Josh Hamilton out in center field wearing his Texas Rangers hat backwards.  It's something that just doesn't belong.

  Ms. Dwyer's final light reads like this - "Why? Because, yes, the NBA is that petty."

   Petty?  Really?  Petty?  Defined:  Petty [pet-ee] -adjective 1. of little or no importance or consequence.  2. of lesser or secondary importance, merit, etc.  3. having or showing narrow ideas, interests, etc.

  In my opinion, this is absolutely the right thing for the league to do.  Many, many years back, they traded in the Larry Bird/John Stockton shorts for the modern day baggy, looser fitting garb.  They changed the pre- and post-game dress code a few years back in an attempt to clean up the league's image.  The league needed a facelift and with all the nonsensical bullshit that surrounds this league (Gilbert Arenas' gun problems, Chris Anderson's tattoo problem, Kobe's alleged rape years ago, yada yada yada) it seems to me that it's players have a hard time controlling themselves off the court.  It gives the players like Dwayne Wade a bad rap who always does community service projects (built and renovated church for his mother) and genuinely seem like decent guys.  I could be totally off the mark with my thoughts on DWade, but I'll back him. 

  Maybe all this behavior starts from what goes on between the lines.  There are rules, and I applaud the league for putting an end to this degradation of an NBA legend and logo.  Well played David Stern, well played.

  I can go on with this for another four hours and address plenty of other topics I haven't even begun to talk about.  But I won't, because this dog crap of a sport will not consume any more of my time.

  Jerry West, you will always be standing on your feet if (and that's a big if) I even wear NBA gear (or a headband).