A few items while I wait for Wednesday night’s Warriors-Mavs and Nugs-Spurs games…
There have been many fine tributes to author David Halberstam (my favorite is the superb excerpting of his work by Glenn Greenwald in Salon), and I’d have to put The Making of a Quagmire and The Best and the Brightest alongside Michael Herr’s Dispatches as the three best books ever written about Vietnam. But my favorite Halberstam book, and the best book ever written about sports, period, in my eyes, is Halberstam’s The Breaks of the Game, his account of the Portland Trailblazers during the 1979-80 season. Before Breaks the notion of looking at the inner workings of franchises through the prisms of salaries and race was almost without precedent, unless one was dealing with hoary history. Even today, the book remains a jewel of reporting, analysis, and fine writing. It set a new template for nearly every sports-related book that followed it.
Halberstam was not perfect. I found The Reckoning to be overly black and white in its indictment of American auto companies and its praise of the Japanese, and his book on Michael Jordan, like everything ever written about the greatest basketball player ever, fails to get past Jordan’s defenses. But rarely does a writer make such a profound impact on both athletics and international affairs. Halberstam did it the hard way, with relentless reporting and painstaking craft that, at its best, was thrilling to read for the ideas and images that filled your head.
Have you heard that Andrei Kililenko broke down and cried in the Utah Jazz locker room on Sunday over the way he has been used recently by Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. During the Jazz’s first two playoff games, both losses to the Rockets, AK-47 had a grand total of 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 6 fouls in just 34 total minutes of play. Note to Glen Taylor and Kevin McHale: Unless Kirilenko has totally fallen off the face of the earth in terms of talent or emotional stability, he would make a gorgeous bookend next to Kevin Garnett as the Wolves’ small forward. The salary is a whopper, running from $13.7 million next year up to $17.8 million in 2010-11. That’s a lot of coin to invest in someone who averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds and three assists this year. But anyone who has watched Kirilenko play knows that numbers don’t do him justice. He is one of the most versatile defenders in the league, a high-energy guy who is a terrific shot-blocker and team player. He had a thumb injury this year, but something larger is affecting him and his relationship with Sloan. If the Wolves are serious about upgrading next year, one might think they could swap Ricky Davis and his expiring contract plus Mark Blount (Davis and Blount are almost a perfect match for Kirilenko’s salary), or better pieces such as Trenton Hassell or Marko Jaric, who both would fit Sloan’s hard-nosed style of play. Due diligence is required to ensure that Kirilenko isn’t damaged goods in some way. But if there is a chance of him returning to his prime of two years ago (he’s only 26 now), well, this guy is an underrated former All Star.
And while we’re on the subject of the Wolves, Luol Deng’s coming-out party in the Heat series may have effectively eliminated any chance of Minnesota dealing KG to the Bulls. Any talks and rumors about KG to Chicago always started with Minnesota getting Deng plus at least one other quality starter plus a high draft pick in return. But Deng has been a monster in the playoffs, averaging 30 points per game. Watching Deng play earlier this year made me consider the wisdom of dealing Garnett for the first time since the superstar arrived here a dozen years ago. Bottom line, with Deng’s strong and steady improvement and Garnett’s slight slippage this year, the Wolves couldn’t expect to get too much more of value out of the Bulls along with Deng in any deal. And if the Bulls make it all the way to the Finals, which is certainly possible, it is unlikely they’ll want to part with Deng at all.
Finally, why is it that some athletes always seem to be injured while others are just as consistently able to perform every game? I was thinking of that when I read the agate type on major league baseball players in this morning’s Strib. Ken Griffey Jr. missed four games with what was originally diagnosed as the flu and later was called diverticulitis. Former dominating closer Eric Gagne is heading back to the disabled list with a hip injury. Former dominating starter Mark Prior had shoulder surgery today. A’s outfielder Milton Bradley pulled his hamstring again and is on the 15-day DL. And the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning.
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