Players try to escape the Barkley Zone

Jordan's Bulls sent Barkley's Suns home in the 1993 Finals.

 It's the 2011 playoffs and we're in what I like to call, "The Barkley zone."

The Barkley zone is for players who've either won an MVP award, played in multiple all-star games and earned various accolades but never won a championship.


Why is it called the Barkley zone? Why not?


When Barkley was drafted to the Sixers, he was on a talented but older team. Julius Irving was 34 when Barkley was a rookie. He was traded to the Suns in 1992 and played Michael Jordan's Bulls in the 1993 Finals and lost. By the time he was traded to Houston, Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon were out of their prime.


Fantastic player, but could never get the big one.

Two players who can get out of the Barkley zone right now are Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. Kidd and Nowitzki combined, have been to three NBA Finals. They've dethrone the Lakers and will either face the Thunder or the Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals.

If Nowitzki can get back to the Finals and get 2006-2007 meltdown out of his mind, he'll finally shed the "soft" and choke-artist labels that's so undeserved.

Players in the Barkley Zone: Asterisk is for those currently playing.


Reggie Miller-Lost to the Lakers in the 2000 Finals in six games.


*Dirk Nowitzki-Lost to the Miami Heat in the 2006 Finals in six games.


*Jason Kidd-Lost to the Lakers in the 2002 Finals in four and lost to the Spurs in the 2003 finals in six games.


Karl Malone-Lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 1998 Finals in six games.


Allen Iverson-Lost to the Lakers in the 2001 Finals in five games.


*LeBron James-Lost to the Spurs in four games in the 2007 Finals.


*Dwight Howard-Lost to the Lakers in five games in the 2009 Finals.


Patrick Ewing-Lost to the Rockets in the 1994 Finals in seven games and lost to the Spurs in the 1999 Finals in five games.

Players given bad contracts plague Stern, NBA, will cause 2011-2012 league lockout

To David Stern and the league owners. Want to avoid future lock outs? Stop overpaying players like Eddy Curry.

Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Dirk Nowitzki signed for less money to stay with their respectable teams. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh took pay cuts to play together.

The way the Heat has played lately, they’d have been better off not signing Bosh. A down-and-dirty player like Luis Scola or Shane Battier would have been a better fit and Miami would still have cap space. Bosh still seems unadjusted to his new team and Wade and James are still trying to learn how to play off each other, despite their season sweep of the Lakers.

It’s hard to trust this Heat team. 
Mike Bibby is washed up, Bosh is a small forward in a power forwards body, they don’t rebound and can’t close out games. They’re 15-19 against teams who are .500 or better. But the Heat could be in the Finals.

And if not, they’re stuck with Bosh and James.

Owners have to know how to make their money work for them.

Here are five teams that are stuck in the hole.

#5 The Atlanta Hawks are good, but with Joe Johnson locked in till 2015-2016, they’ll have a hard time being great. Johnson will make over $100 million in guaranteed money. The Hawks need a point guard and depth on the bench. When will they learn? Never pay shooters superstar money. Ever! 
With Johnson, the Hawks will be competitive but never contenders.

#4 Another over paid guard on a good but not great team. Rudy Gay will make over $80 million with a player option in 2014-2015, his final year in the contract. Gay isn’t good defensively. He’s a mediocre shooter from the three point line and a decent rebounder. He’s 23, but with averages of 19 points and 6 rebounds this is as good as it gets. 
He’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim at best.

#3 I feel bad for John Wall. His rookie season has been out shined nightly with Blake Griffin highlights. The Wizards are 1-29 on the road. The Cavaliers have a better road record than the Wizards. But when Wall has teammates like Josh Howard and Rashard Lewis, who is a shell of his former self, it’s going to get worse before it gets bad for Wall. The Wizards are stuck with Lewis till 2012-2013, who is due to make over $60 million by then. Lewis doesn't play defense, he’s not going to make Wall or anyone else better on that team and ailing injuries have hindered his scoring. No team is going to want to take on Lewis’ contract.

#2 Dwight Howard has two years left before his contract expires in 2013. Those two years are crucial for the Magic. Earlier in the season, the Magic made a mega trade, sending Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat to Phoenix, Lewis to D.C., in return getting Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu.On one end, Orlando got rid of Lewis and his bad contract. 
Good for them. 
On the other end, Orlando lost a key big man and will have to play small ball come playoff time. Now Orlando has Arenas’ bad contract, his encyclopedia of knee injuries and the guns-in-the-locker room incident that’s going to be attached to his name for the rest of his career. Arenas is due to make $78 million by 2014. We’re never going to see Agent 0 Arenas. Instead we’ll get Gran Torino Arenas. A grumpy player who’s too old and worn down to provide a spark. Orlando better figure what do soon before Howard does like James and makes his decision.

#1 Bosh and James are due to make over $60 million by 2014. They both have an early termination option by 2015 and a player option by 2016. Too much money for a power forward who’s getting less than eight rebounds a game. And while it’s hard to adjust playing with James and Wade, two guys who need the ball to create, Bosh isn’t doing the little things for the Heat to be consider contenders in June this season. Bosh is like Memphis Pau Gasol, an excellent player but not a leader. Looking for Bosh? He can be seen on the perimeter. For the majority of the season, Bosh has been playing like a small forward.
 Bosh had moments when he’s played like a forward. He was abundant against the Lakers. This Heat team still has a lot of issues but can fix one of them if Bosh takes less 17-footers and plays on the block more. It’s early to tell if Bosh is right for this team but for a third option guy who signed for the max, Miami could have made their money stretch. Battier, who’s contract expires after this season, would have been a nice pick up for the Heat. This team needs more rebounding, they need a point guard and their bench needs to be more accountable.

It’s the middle of March, but the Heat is turning up.

The NBA's hypothetical tweets list

Charlie Villanueva let his followers know how he felt. 

LeBron James, Shaq, Chris Bosh, and Charlie Villanueva all use Twitter. Magic Johnson recently made an account. Social media has taken over locker rooms in the NBA, the NFL, college hoops and other sports venues.

Some athletes use Twitter as a way to connect with their fans while others use it to trash talk their colleagues.

Villanueva called out Kevin Garnett on Twitter, saying KG called him a “cancer patient.” 

Does Twitter bring trash talking to another level? What if Twitter was around in the 80’s and 90’s? For about two weeks I pondered this. Would Shaq air-out his beef with Kobe? Would Michael Jordan, who is a well-known trash talker, be too tempted to smack tweet before and after games? This idea turned into a list of 30 players and situations from different eras. But to keep it brief, I left it at 10 with Twitter names. Here’s the NBA’s hypothetical tweet list in a 140 characters or less.

#10 Who can forget Spike Lee and Reggie Miller’s rivalry? What if Lee took his Cheryl Miller chant from Madison Square Garden to Twitter? 

Mars Blackmon Spike Lee

@MilllerTime Hey Reggie, you’ll never be better than #CherylMiller, never. Cheryl! Cheryl! Cheryl! Cheryl! Cheryl!

#9 Doug Christie had to be the most whipped NBA husband ever. Christie’s wife, Jackie is known to hoop fans as the cynical-psycho woman who attends every game that her husband is playing in.

Maybe Doug could give his wife a tweet location.

Doug Christie Doug

@JackieChristie You’ll always know where to find me and my heart. I don’t care what people say about our relationship. They’ll never understand us.

#8 Most players have a hobby. Jordan likes to gamble and play golf, Chris Paul likes bowling and Karl Malone likes driving 18-wheel trucks. Malone grew up in Summerfield, La and thought he’d have a career in truck driving before playing basketball for a living. Malone tweeting before a long-summer road trip is funny as much as it is predictable.

TheMailMan Karl Malone

Going to take a ride in my diesel fueled-18 wheeler. Now that’s a vacation.  

#7 Could you see Larry Brown leaving inspirational-life tweets using basketball as a metaphor?

CoachBrown Larry Brown

Life will be OK, if you play the right way.

#6 Allen Iverson and practice is like oil and water, they don’t mix.

TheAnswer Allen Iverson

I just broke #Jordan’sankles and we’re still talking about practice.

#5 The rivalry between Wilt Chamberlin and Bill Russell is arguably the greatest player rivalry in sports. Chamberlin is a two-time World Champion and four-time MVP and a well-known womanizer. Russell is an 11-time champion.

BillRussell#6 Bill Russell

@BillRulssell#6 I got more women in my hotel than an all-girls catholic school.

@WilttheStilt Yeah and I got more rings on my fingers than a jeweler from Jared.

#4 I can’t remember how many times Dennis Rodman gave his hair a makeover.

D-Rodman Dennis Rodman

Too all my fans, I need some help picking a color for my hair for tonight’s’ game. Let’s see, black and red, blue and red, black and white or blue and green?

#3 Shaq and Kobe Bryant were two of the biggest drama queens ever known in almost any sport. Who knows how many rings these guys would have had if they’d put their beef aside? From Bryant calling out Shaq for his adultery, to Shaq giving Bryant taste tips, here’s an idea of what these two would tweet to each other.

TherealShaq Shaq

@blackmamba Hey, Kobe tell me how my ass tastes? I’m the most dominate ever, in basketball and in scrabble.

Blackmamba Kobe Bryant

@TheRealShaq Yeah, about as dominant as your movie career.

#2 Michael Jordan may not have had much more to prove after his first retirement in October, 1993. He was a three-time champion and his father was killed, so he was probably emotionally drained. But have we ever known Jordan to be a humble man? I think not.

JumpMan23 Michael Jordan

I’m done, I’m retiring. I kicked Magic, Clyde and Barkley’s asses and kicked ass overseas. How much more ass could I kick?

#1 Jordan’s come back had to be the top hypothetical tweet.  Once Jordan figure out that he himself was the biggest competition that he could face, there wasn’t any turning back. Jordan returned to league in 1994 and won another three championships and retired in 1998. But then Jordan returned in in 2001 as a Wizard.

I didn’t come back for another ring but to get @riphamilton and @kwamebrown asses in gear. I’m 40-years old and I’m whipping these young bucks butt up and down D.C. 

Minnesota's best man gets no love, votes

Kevin Love is averaging 21 points, 15 rebounds and is shooting 45 percent from three-point range. 

Let’s Play the love game, play the love game, do you want love or you want fame? Put Kevin Love in the All-Star game.

The Western Conference starters were announced. Congrats to Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Yao Ming. Wait, Yao Ming? This is the unfortunate side of letting fans vote for the All-Star game. Yao Ming has seen about as much action as Steve Carell in The 40-year-old Virgin.

While the reserves haven’t been announced yet, Love should get an opportunity. Some argue that the All-Star game is for the best players from winning teams but last I’ve checked the Houston Rockets are 22-26.

Yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves are awful. Yes, I can’t blame Ricky Rubio for avoiding a state that’s considered Frosty the Snow Man’s vacation spot. But give the fans in Minnesota something to cheer for.

Love plays basketball with an old soul. It’s like watching Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Bill Laimbeer reincarnated into Kevin Love. Love was the first player in 28 years to post 30 points and 30 rebounds since Moses freaking Malone. Chris Bosh needs to take notes.

Fans may not want to watch Love in the All-Star game but they can at least smell like him.