A crazy theory recently was floated. The theory, turned into a question, is this: Did coach John Calipari collect so much talent this season that Kentucky might be good enough to beat a bad NBA team?
Basketball
The Chicago Bulls are putting the most impressive team on the floor in the NBA Summer League, and it’s no secret to basketball bettors.
At some point, LeBron James is probably going back home to Cleveland, and not just for a summer vacation. The odds say he will follow his heart and return to play for the Cavaliers, sooner or later.
Instead of shooting for back-to-back championships, the San Antonio Spurs spent the entire season bouncing back, and their comeback Sunday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals was symbolic of it all.
No asterisk goes next to this result, and no excuses will come from the Miami Heat. Only one player pulled up lame and limped off with cramps, but it just happened to be LeBron James, the best player in the game.
Old-age jokes no longer bother Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs, who continue to age gracefully and inspire senior citizens everywhere.
Sooner or later, something needs to change. The Oklahoma City Thunder are going out with a whimper again, and Kevin Durant deserves better.
Time will tell if LeBron James stepped into a time machine this season and traveled back to Cleveland. That was where he spent seven years trying to resuscitate a corpse.
At one point, it was almost a given that Paul George, the NBA’s next big star, would lead the Indiana Pacers to the stratosphere. The sharps and squares often are at odds and see things differently, but on this point, almost everyone agreed.
On any other day, Stephen Curry’s seven 3-pointers would have been the only story. Sideshow aside, Curry shot life back into the Golden State Warriors, and that’s what mattered most to underdog bettors. The Warriors were aiming to get even in a first-round playoff series. The Los Angeles Clippers are tied up in a full-blown media circus.
Everything starts with the coach. Gregg Popovich sets a steady tone for the San Antonio Spurs, who resemble the Aristotle theory that excellence is a habit, not an act.
At this point, it seems to be a daily routine. Brush your teeth, eat lunch, get annoyed by bad drivers on the way to work, and, of course, watch Aaron Harrison hit a huge 3-pointer as Kentucky wins a thriller.
It’s easy to paint John Calipari as a con artist. He’s slick and perceived as shady, a reputation earned through great recruiting. The Kentucky coach runs an NBA farm team on a college campus.
In retrospect, some events are truly unbelievable, such as an airplane disappearing without a trace. It went against the odds, but Shabazz Napier knocking out Michigan State is not that hard to believe.
In this high-stakes poker game, Billy Donovan is holding a real cool hand. The Florida coach has four senior starters and a sophomore who’s a hot shooter.