NBA Diaries: David West

Working in association with the NBA, Sports Casual has secured exclusive access to blog posts from two time All-Star power forward David West and Duke legend Shane Battier.  Throughout the season, these players will write about their experiences transitioning to a new team.  After spending the first 8 seasons of his professional career with the New Orleans Hornets, West recently signed a 2-year deal with the Indiana Pacers.  This week, David West weighs in on his first day and night as a member of the Pacers.  

David West, PF, Indiana Pacers

Hey guys,

      So right after I signed my new deal with the Pacers, I hopped right on a private jet and made my way to Indiana so I could get started on getting back into game shape.  The lockout felt like forever, I just can’t wait to play!!  The private jet was a nice touch, although I later found out it was a necessary one too – there are no commercial flights into Indiana, you have to fly into Ohio and catch a horse and buggy from there.  

When I got off the plane, Mr. Bird was there to greet me.  What an honor to meet such a legend of the game.  During the car ride back to team headquarters we talked about a few different things; mostly Mr. Bird just called me a “ninny boy” and “girly man” and told stories about beating Dennis Johnson in H.O.R.S.E.  The arena is awesome!  They took me on a tour of the training rooms and practice courts, the court and press box area, and ended in the locker room.  A few of the guys were already in there after seeing the trainer, so I got to meet Darren Collison, Brandon Rush and Danny Granger, all great guys.  Roy Hibbert was there, but he just sat at his locker reading a dictionary like he always does. 

 Anyway, Brandon Rush invited me out to a bar that night to celebrate with some of the guys, and it was a great time.  We had some drinks and some laughs, a bunch of my new teammates came through to say hello and talk about the season.  The one who hung around the longest was Jeff Foster – what a guy.  We talked about our lives and careers; all he kept saying was “Foster – it’s Australian for basketball”.  It was funny at first, but once he started crying as he said it things got awkward.  I talked to the Indiana girls at the bar – definitely an experience.  Both of them were nice and very interested in the outside world, but unfortunately their brother-husbands pulled them away pretty quick.  Oh well.  Well that’s it for now, I’m looking forward to a great year in Indy, championship or bust!  And by bust, I mean use my newly acquired millions to vacation outside of Indiana.

                                                                                                Love and Lay-ups,

                                                                                                                D-West

Joe Silvestro is a regular contributor to Sports Casual, check back every Funday Friday for his witticisms concerning the Wide World of Sports.  Email him at jsilvestro21@gmail.com

The Return of the King: 5 Reasons Why We Should Be Watching Slamball

With the beginning of the holiday season, many NBA fans will soon find their holidays devoid of the normal slate of exciting early season NBA match-ups.  It seems that all hope for an NBA season has been lost, as Billy Hunter and David Stern remain locked in a battle of incompetence and egotism.  But what if I told you we could not only be watching basketball, but basketball with full contact (such as hand checking), artificially enhanced vertical leaps and the unconditional endorsement of Spike TV?  Although such a vision would seem delusional, in fact this version of basketball has been in existence since 2002 and features 6 teams that actually play (instead of argue over revenue sharing while wearing "Basketball Never Stops" t-shirts).  However, Slamball play has been suspended indefinitely in the US due to lack of funding.  Here are the top 5 reasons why Slamball should start tomorrow.

1) The NBA is locked out.  Not only that, it's reached the "nuclear winter" stage of negotiations, the bizzaro Shangri La of labor negotiators everywhere.  The void left by this lockout represents Slamball's best (and last?) chance at gaining relevance in the modern mainstream sports industry, becoming more Dexter Douglas and less Freakazoid.

2) There are only 8 players on the court at any time.  One very serious complaint about the NBA has been the gradual loss of space on the basketball court, as players get bigger and more athletic there is simply less room to maneuver.  Reducing the number of players in the game opens up space for good fundamental play, and face melting dunks performed by athletes wearing full padding on trampolines.

3) Dunks count for 3 points.  In a league where not everyone is capable of throwing it down perhaps this rule would seem unfair, but on a court with 4 trampolines, why not incentivize show stopping dunks on every trip down the floor?

4) It's full contact.  Is there anything more frustrating than watching an enforcement of the continuation rule in the NBA?  (Maybe listening to Cris Collinsworth do his best "competent commentator" impression.  Is English even his first language?)  What if, the next time a whistle blows and Derrick Rose takes three more steps down the lane for a dunk, he gets laid out by a Zach Randolph punch?  Demarcus Cousins would get much more playing time, that's for sure.

5) It's huge in Italy.  Since debuting there in 2007, Slamball has made a distinct impression on Italians, gaining notoriety across southern Europe (ok, maybe just in Italy).  By bringing Slamball back to the States its creators will have continued the USA's grand tradition of importing Italian excellence.  Fiat, Lavazza, and now Slamball.

Joe Silvestro is a regular contributor to Sports Casual, check back every Funday Friday for his witticisms concerning the Wide World of Sports.  Email him at jsilvestro21@gmail.com