Tonight's Lineup

I purposely delayed my flight another day so I could watch tonight's match ups. (Well, that and the fact that I'm not emotionally prepared to leave my dog. My cousin's like, "I don't even know who you are anymore.") Boston has the chance to sweep the 3 Texas teams for the first time since '01 and I fully expect them to do so because KG is going to be a beast tonight after being called out for tanking. Tanking...for missing the last 5 games of the season after toiling essentially alone for the last 12 years for Minny. I have the same thing to say to Glen Taylor as Faith Hill said to the ho bag who grabbed her husband's balls: "You gotta learn some class, my friend." He could take some lessons from Micky Arison. I don't know much about Micky Arison personally, but the way he handled the Shaq trade spoke volumes about his character. If Boston goes up by 25 early on, we may even see a smackdown between Mark Cuban and Avery Johnson. My money's on Avery. You know he's still scrappy as ever.

Update: Mark Cuban is MIA. Official excuse - "family commitment." What it really means - he has a responsibility to his family not to get beat down on national TV by an employee.

NBA Political Contributions

There's a fun little thing on Huffington Post that allows you to see who's giving what to whom. It lets you track donations by either name or address. I thought I'd try some NBA names and see who popped up. So far, Barack Obama is leading the race in the NBA. Here are the results:

Execs:
David Stern (Ruler): $4600 to Hillary Clinton
Billy King (Sixers): $4600 to Barack Obama
Jerry Colangelo (Suns): $2300 to John McCain
Robert Sarver (Suns): $2100 to McCain
Wyc Grousbeck (Celtics): $4600 to Barack and $2300 to Mitt Romney
Danny Ainge (Celtics): $2300 to Romney
James Dolan (Knicks): $2300 to Hillary
Magic Johnson: $2300 to Barack

Players:
Stephon Marbury: $2300 to Barack
Baron Davis: $2300 to Barack
Grant Hill: $2300 to Barack

Others:
Ahmad Rashad: $2300 to Barack
Arn Tellem (Agent): $2300 to Barack

A lot of the "superstars" - Kobe, Lebron, Dwyane, KG, AI, Tracy - haven't given anything. I wasn't surprised by that, but I thought I'd at least see Adonal "Democracy Matters" Foyle or Charles Barkley on the list. I was surprised to see Steph on there. Perhaps I've underestimated him.

There were 4 listings for Michael Jordan - 3 that couldn't be him and 1 that might. The one that might is retired from Washington DC and gave $2100 to Barack.

Anyway, try it out. It's kind of stalkerish in that it lists the address of the donor, too. So whether you're interested in politics or stalking, here's the tool for you.

WAG to Watch: Brandi Garnett

I guess she does like her Louis Vuitton, too. I just hope she hasn't named it yet.

Photo Source: Boston Herald/Matt Stone, eLUXURY

The KG Loves Boston Tour Continues to Fenway

Photo Source: AP

KG Trade Aftermath: Another Reason to Hate Kobe

A lot of people thought/hoped that KG would land in LA. After all, that's where he has a summer home and that's where his mentor and brother-in-law, Jimmy Jam, also moved.

Here's what KG said when asked about why he agreed to go to Boston:

"There was no way I was going to be able to go to some other organization, franchise and have this caliber of talent. There was no way I was going to be able to duplicate that anywhere else.

I really felt like this was my only scenario, to be honest with you. No one wants to be in a situation that you can't be successful. I've been losing the last, what, 4 years. I mean I take that home.

Trying to find the best scenario for myself, my family, basketball-wise, this came out to be the best scenario. I do have a place in LA. LA's LA. Knowing that Kobe situation is up in the air..."

So once again, Kobe, your churlishness has cost yourself and your team. Team Smush!

The Press Conference

Danny Ainge looks like the cat who ate the canary. Or rather the T-wolf.

At the press conference, aside from reassuring everyone that KG does indeed heart Boston, he also went out of his way to defend the trade from Minnesota's end. However, it sounded more like when the big brother scams the little brother and then tries to justify it so the little brother doesn't go crying to Mommy (in this case, David Stern). He said,

"Minnesota got a good deal in this deal...We've invested a lot of blood, sweat, and tears with them [Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, et al]...Minnesota's in one phase of their franchise, where we have been, in developing young players. And we're in another phase right now."

Basically, Minny's in the losing phase and Boston is not. Haha.

My favorite quote from the press conference, though, came from Wyc Grousbeck, managing partner and governor for the C's. When talking about Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers, he actually said, "They've created a culture here of being patient."

Ahh, so that's what Danny and Isiah and the Billies (Knight and King) were/are doing. They're creating cultures of patience. Good to know.

The word of the day for KG was chemistry. As he said, repeatedly, "Chemistry is a big thing." The word of the day for Wally Szczerbiak was, "Fuck."

All in all, the press conference went well. Paul Pierce was beyond giddy. Ray Allen was boring. However, to offset his personality, he wore the loudest, gaudiest tie he could find. Danny Ainge thanked everyone but his mama and had to stop himself from thanking Kevin McHale too profusely. Doc Rivers managed to stay semi-conscious. Should be one interesting season.

Photo Source: AP

Now Introducing Kevin Garnett, Red Sox Fan

Celtics fans, it's okay to like Kevin Garnett. He's a Red Sox fan. Or rather, a Red Sox hat fan. Now that that's clear, we may actually be able to talk about basketball in Boston.

At the press conference introducing KG, Danny Ainge went out of his way to clearly delineate KG's loyalties. After Kevin was asked why he decided to let the trade happen, Ainge said,

"The real reason he didn't tell you, is that he has a Red Sox baseball hat collection. He has a tough time wearing those except when he comes to Boston so now he can break out his Red Sox hat collection. He is a big time Red Sox baseball fan."

What a relief. Now just so there's no confusion, Kevin Garnett is a Red Sox baseball fan. And he likes Boston. After his Red Sox comments, Ainge continued with his KG-loves-Boston tirade:

"There was a lot of reports out there of KG not wanting to come to Boston...Those are all false reports. There was a team or two that he liked better than our situation...It had nothing to do with the city of Boston in any way, shape, or form...All the reports out there were false."

Translation: Boston media, be nice to KG.

Photo Source: AP

Out with the New, In with the Old?

The Ray Allen-Allan Ray pairing has officially come to an end, but who knows, there might be a Ray Allen-KG pairing yet.