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Top 10 NBA stories for '08

Yes, it was a good year for the NBA, but I will say that the one that stands out to me is the Sonics situation. As a Jazz fan, I'm open to a team in OKC, but Seattle didn't deserve to lose the Sonics. I would have been applauding Clay Bennett if he bought and moved the Clippers to OKC, but that just makes too much sense.

This also sends a message that history means little, if you're not the Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, Knicks, etc., and that this could happen to any team besides those mentioned above. I would be looking for the owner's head on a pike if they tried pulling a Bennett on Utah and the Jazz.

Kobe is slowly changing my opinion of him, I'm still reserving my applause until i can be sure the old kobe doesn't rear it's ugly head.

Such careful fact-checking...

Maybe Mr. Jorgensen was embarrassed by the USA's performance in Sydney (2000), but that team still won the gold medal. Only in the Athens Games did the USA fail to win the gold. Perhaps the author was similarly embarrassed by the NBA players' sub-gold performances in the World Championships in Indianapolis (2002) and Japan (2006).

To Mr. Fact Check... It must be difficult to walk with meer mortals.

The NBA doesn't respect their own fans. How can you let a team that has been around for 41 years leave that easily? The NBA is a joke. Thanks for nothing Stern.

I am normally an optimistic person, but as I watch the NBA this year there are some strong evidences that leave me questioning the integrity of the game. Here are three examples:

1 - Star treatment is bad for the game. NBA.com - play of the day the other day has Lebron making a circus wrap-around shot after being fouled and they counted the basket. He clearly took an extra step after he was fouled.

2 - Lakers vs Celtics on Christmas day. It was a great game, down to the wire. LA was up by five with 40 seconds to play and Boston dribbles down slowly and takes 20 seconds to fire up a brick. Then, instead of fouling or pressuring the ball they let Kobe go one-on-one and he scores, game over. Anyone that knows anything about strategy has to assume that Boston did not give their best effort to win the game.

3 - The pacers were down two points the other night and had 2.5 seconds after a made basket that left them down by two. They did not call a time out. Duh - in the NBA you get the ball at half-court!

"Conspiracy": That is dumbest thing I have ever heard. You took 3 instances and based your opinion. Do stars get better calls? Of course! That's life! Don't pretty people get Hollywood Glory? Don't rich people get political perks? Get a life.

Plus, if you watched a game like the one between the Jazz and Rockets with an unbiased eye, you would see that these guys really do give it their all. Just because a couple guys made mistakes, we should think that they tanked it? That's retarded. That's saying that Chris Webber was trying to lose when he called timeout in college when Michigan didn't have any left. Sit on your couch and appreciate what real athletes can do. Then, don't scrutinize them when they act like mere men.

NBA=the greatest league in the world.

I am a huge Jazz fan and have been my whole life, but how can desnews honestly say that Sloan's milestone is a bigger story than the Sonic's leaving Seattle, Kobe winning the MVP, or the ref scandal? It is a great story, but not above any of those.

The DesNews is a REGIONAL or a LOCAL paper. Of course it has a LOCAL bias. If you want unbiased information read a national publication.

Re: BadenBaller
No other sports get "Star Treatment" why should the NBA? It isn't life. Why should you teach your kids that they don't get star treatment in High School or College ball, but then when you get into the NBA they will call less fouls on you because you are a "Star". That is wrong. In the NFL does Brett Farve get an interception taken away because he is a "Star" NO! In sports you should not get "Star" treatment. It is suppose to be fair. Otherwise why even watch the "Pro Wrestling" on a basketball court?

The reason Sloan is a bigger story is because not only is he the longest tenured coach with one team in just the NBA, but in all of professional sports. It's the ONLY time it's happened.

Other cities have lost teams that were in place a long time, other referee scandals have been uncovered before, and there have been MANY new MVP's that herald "the coming of a new era".

THAT'S why.

Jorgensen writes "One of the league's referees was sentenced to prison for not having as much integrity as all would have expected."

Who are "all" and what did they expect?

Way to write around it, Jorgensen. Can't bring yourself to write the guy is a criminal? Not sure about Donaghy's prison sentence, but the sentence Jorgensen wrote is criminal.

Re Badenballer: NBA = National Boring Association

kobe is the best in the world!!!

Dude: There is star treatment in real life. Of course, you didn't comment on that because you know I'm right.
Is it wrong? Yeah, but it is part of the game. If you don't want to watch, then don't. We don't need your worthless opinions and whining.
GTH!

As the World Turns, like sand through an hour glass, so are the Days of our lives............ Yeppers soap talk.... reading the comments reminds me of all the hype anything gets when posted by those that just can't read it as it is written. We all ( each and every one of us ) were born with freedom of choice/ free choice to make our way through the paths of life and choose where we want to head next. This is a new year a year most never thought they would live to see, a year some thought might bring new change to the life as we know it.......... one thing for certain we will always have opinions of what we think and feel and express them for others to debate-- human kindness is one that can never be debated .... look areound you and see what the "Big Names" do in the communities they live in........then bash them.