New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[jadis]

Clippers beat the Rockets last night at Staples. They are 3-0 vs Houston this year.

Bad news is that Jamal Crawford hurt his calf last night - no word yet on the severity of the injury. With JJ Reddick already down the Clippers really need Jamal.

Big Baby made his Clippers debut last night and looked pretty good - not a superstar but much better than Ryan Hollins. He took too many mid-range jumpers and looked a little awkward but it was his first time on the court for the Clippers.

Dwight Howard was booed at the Clippers game - apparently no one in LA likes him, not even Clipper fans.

Tracking ex-Celtics is a good pastime for me these days, maybe this year. Baby should make some contributions when he's on court. Big banger and tough lumber when he stands in the paint. Yes, much better than Hollins who was a Celtic himself. Tough to see Jamaal leave court like that. Injuries...they're a killer. Blake has turned in full force, no hesitation. A few games ago, I saw him even dribbled to the outside and made a tough turn around jumper, it went in. I must say this is a new Blake.

 

[jadis]

I'm shifting my focus on the NCAA at the moment. Aaron Gordon of Arizona. Projected top 10 pick. Reminds one of Blake Griffin. Ainge has flown in to Tucson to watch him.

http://www.celticslife.com/2014/02/danny-ainge-goes-to-tucson-to-get.html

 

[Steve Williams]

Danny Granger to sign with the Clipps

 

[jadis]

Danny Granger to sign with the Clipps

good acquisition by doc rivers. wow, danny earned $14m before the buy out.

 

[WLVCA]

Different circumstances now for the Clippers than in years past. Certainly Doc Rivers and an improved team have made a difference.

Adding Big Baby and Danny Granger should make a big difference in the playoffs.

I hope that Granger has recovered sufficiently from his injury to make a significant contribution for the Clippers.

With JJ Reddick out for weeks with a bulging disc and Jamal Crawford's recent calf injury the Clippers could use the help at the 2 guard and SF.

To this point Jared Dudley hasn't performed as expected and Matt Barnes has not been as good this year as last - although he has done better the last couple of games.

Big switch for the Clippers - from the team that no one wanted to play for to a preferred destination.

 

[Steve Williams]

How Michael Jordan made $90 million in 2013

By Kurt Badenhausen | Forbes

Nike released the Air Jordan 10 “Powder Blue” retro sneaker on Saturday, 20 years after the first Jordan 10s hit shelves. Like all the Jordan retro releases, this one was highly anticipated and first-day sales hit $35 million. For perspective, in all of 2013, Adidas sold $40 million in the U.S. of the signature shoes of its top star, Derrick Rose. The Bulls' current star guard isn’t the only one operating in the shadow of Jordan. Reigning MVP LeBron James is the top seller among current NBA players with $300 million at retail last year for his Nike shoes, according to data tracker SportsOneSource. Jordan crushed those numbers with $2.25 billion in U.S. retail basketball sales in 2013. It has been more than a decade since Michael Jordan last appeared in an NBA uniform, but MJ most certainly has still got it.

Jordan made an estimated $90 million last year thanks to the rich partnership he enjoys with Nike. His 2013 earnings eclipsed those of all other retired or current athletes save boxer Floyd Mayweather. It marked Jordan’s biggest earnings year yet in a career paved with monster paydays, which peaked in Jordan’s last season with the Bulls (1997-98) at $80 million.
Jordan entered the NBA three decades ago after three years at North Carolina, where he announced himself to the country his freshman year with the game-winning shot in the 1982 National Championship game. Nike saw the marketing potential of Jordan, drafted third overall by the Bulls, and offered him a five-year contract worth $500,000 annually plus royalties. It was a huge sum at the time for a shoe deal, but it was a partnership that would lead both parties to unprecedented heights.

Jordan took the court his rookie year in 1984 in a pair of red and black Air Jordans, which matched the Bulls’ uniforms, but did not feature any white per NBA protocol. The league banned the shoes and fined Michael $5,000 every game for wearing them. Nike covered the fines and capitalized on the attention with a commercial with the following voiceover: "On September 15th, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game. Fortunately, the NBA can't stop you from wearing them." A marketing juggernaut was born.

New Air Jordans followed annually in assorted colors and there have been a myriad of special releases along the way. The retro business makes up about half of the Jordan shoe business today. “Nike has made an art form of unrequited demand,” says SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell regarding the retro releases. “Making sure that there is supply well below demand keeps things fresh.”

Retail shoe sales for the Jordan Brand in the U.S. grew 11% last year to $2.7 billion, with basketball making up 84% of that, according to Powell. Roughly 50% to 55% of that goes to Nike. If you factor in sales of Jordan apparel, the international Jordan business and sales at Nike stores, the Jordan brand is contributing roughly $2 billion of revenue to Nike, which posted sales of $26 billion over the last 12 months. Jordan, the man, gets a cut of every shoe, hoodie or pair of shorts sold by Nike under the Jordan Brand. We estimate MJ’s take from Nike was at least $75 million last year. “Given that he is the name that launched the brand, you could argue that he deserves more,” says Phil de Picciotto, founder and president of Octagon. “Jordan is the perfect athlete.”

One of every two basketball shoes sold in the U.S. last year carried the Jordan brand. Factor in Nike-branded shoe sales into the mix, and Nike has a near monopoly in basketball with market share of 92%, according to SportsOneSource. Adidas (5.5% market share), Reebok (1.4%) and Under Armour (0.7%) are still searching for answers to Jordan.
The Jordan Brand isn’t sitting still. It opened its first Jordan-specific store, Flight 23, this month in New York City, outside of Madison Square Garden where No. 23 tortured Knicks fans for so many years with moments like this legendary dunk or his double nickel return to MSG.

MJ still weighs in on designs of new Jordan shoes and suggests players he thinks would be a good fit for Nike’s Jordan endorsement roster, which counts roughly 20 current NBA players, including All-Stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The Jordan Brand also taps players outside of basketball like baseball’s Derek Jeter, Nascar’s Denny Hamlin, boxing’s Andre Ward and football’s Andre Johnson.

 

[jadis]

Just occurred to me now, the thought of the superhero black mask. Also can be a WWE wrestling mask.

http://tracking.si.com/2014/03/01/lebron-james-to-switch-protective-masks/

 

[JackD201]

They could cast him in 300 III as a bad guy!

 

[jadis]

They could cast him in 300 III as a bad guy!

I won't be too sad if a spear lunged into that bad guy, in the movie.

 

[jadis]

Boston is giving indy a tough time. Hey coach Brad, we don't need the win. They do.

 

[rblnr]

Good article on Melo by George Karl who would know:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/0...rmelo-anthonys-knicks-fade.html?from=homepage

 

[jadis]

No Amare?

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/sports/nba/the-nbas-6-most-overpaid-players.html/?a=viewall

 

[WLVCA]

Clippers are down by 11 at the half versus Phoenix tonight. Suns have been hot and can't do anything wrong.

Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick both out with injuries.

Big Baby and Danny Granger have zero points and zero rebounds between them.

Hoping for a better second half.

 

[WLVCA]

Must be me. I walked away from the TV and when I came back the Clippers were up by 10 at the end of the third and have since stretched it to 15.

Still 8 minutes to go in the 4th quarter.

 

[WLVCA]

Suns stormed back but the Clippers held them off to win 101-96.

Credit to the Suns. For a team that didn't get much respect at the beginning of the season the Suns have been strong this year.

 

[MylesBAstor]

No Amare?

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/sports/nba/the-nbas-6-most-overpaid-players.html/?a=viewall

He's not quite up there. Those are some hard to beat stiffs. Or maybe each team was limited to one player?

Not sure what Michael Beasley makes but he is a huge bust. Also Jeremy Lin is overpaid too.

 

[jadis]

He's not quite up there. Those are some hard to beat stiffs. Or maybe each team was limited to one player?

Not sure what Michael Beasley makes but he is a huge bust. Also Jeremy Lin is overpaid too.

Beasley makes only $1m this season. Nobody was taking him till the Heat finally bit. But, he sometimes scores 20+ points, like in last night's loss to the Rockets. He could be like a Stacey King who was a high draft, went bust, then actually found himself back and helped the Bulls in a title series. Agreed with Lin. Overpaid. And dig this, Amare is paid more than Carmelo. $21.6m to Melo's $21.5m. Again, there are nights when Amare plays well, but mostly, he's forgotten.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Beasley makes only $1m this season. Nobody was taking him till the Heat finally bit. But, he sometimes scores 20+ points, like in last night's loss to the Rockets. He could be like a Stacey King who was a high draft, went bust, then actually found himself back and helped the Bulls in a title series. Agreed with Lin. Overpaid. And dig this, Amare is paid more than Carmelo. $21.6m to Melo's $21.5m. Again, there are nights when Amare plays well, but mostly, he's forgotten.

Amare has generally played well when he's been on the court. But that hasn't been frequently enough. Plus he's limited to 20 mins though the other night was an exception with 32. How bad are the Knicks when they pick up trash like Shannon Brown and Earl Clark? At least dip into the D-league and hope to catch lightening in a bottle. If the owner and GM think the Knicks are making the playoffs, they're smoking crack with Tom Ford. Plus as the season goes on, I see it less and less likely that Carmelo returns. Even if you say that's good and let's rebuild eg. trade Chandler, Amare retires, get rid of Felton and Shumpet, etc. the team has no draft picks.

No the Knicks are doomed to another five years of mediocrity. Whatever Donny Walsh achieved in his years, has been destroyed by Dolan and his clown princes in a year or two now. Nothing will ever happen until fans stop showing up to watch this bad excuse for a BB team. And that's not likely to happen.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Actually in retrospect, the Knicks could lead the league with four overpaid, under performers. How JR Smith didn't make the list is beyond me.

 

[Steve Williams]

anyone seen the 2 young players Lakers got from the Warriors for Steve Blake. Kent Bazemore IMO looks like a decent player with speed, energy and shot accuracy. There has to be a cloud with a silver lining somewhere in this Lakers season