The NBA Playoffs are my favorite time of the year for lots of reasons. Not necessarily just for the games themselves either. Reality is, the NBA is one of the few sports that's more fun to talk about than to actually watch. The trades. The player feuds. The Rap Sheets. The off-court baby mama drama. It's all there.
I know the NFL is a cultural phenomenon, and baseball is (Latin) America's game, but the NBA is the bestest of all sports because it's damn near a grown man's soap opera.
Case in point, check out what happened the other night in Atlanta.
There was great debate yesterday about the hand gesture Paul Pierce made late in the Game 3 loss to the Hawks on Saturday after being taunted by Al Horford.Bullcrap!
The Celtics said that when Pierce put his thumb and forefinger into a circle and held the remaining three fingers up, it meant blood, sweat and tears - a symbol used within the team this year.
To the league, it meant $25,000.
That’s how much the Celtics captain was fined for what the NBA called a “menacing gesture.” Sources said the signal was consistent with a gang-related threat, though the Celts debated that strongly.
“Watch what Paul does when he’s introduced. He’s done it for every game,” said Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “That’s not anything related to” gangs.
Watch this video and tell me if Paul Pierce is telling his opponent about "blood, sweat, and tears".
Nah, that looks like a gang sign to me. The league hit Pierce with a measly $25,000 fine, which shows that they're a lot more interested in having their banner franchise advance in deep the playoffs than they are about sending messages of peace and non-violence.
The Herald reported yesterday that the Rev. Shaun Harrison of Operation Gang Out was blasting Pierce for making the gesture and demanding that the Celtic forward donate $50,000 to an inner-city group working with at-risk youths.You would think a guy like Pierce, who was nearly stabbed to death in a bar fight that may or may not have been gang related a few years ago would know better.
The hand signal - in which he maneuvered his right index finger and thumb into a circle and raised his three other fingers together - is consistent with a gang sign used by the Piru Blood in Pierce’s hometown of Inglewood, Calif. It’s also similar to the “three’s up” or “B” hand symbol used by Boston teens to represent the Hub.
Pierce has never been linked to gang activity, in Boston nor in California. But questions arose in 2000 after he was stabbed 11 times in a nightclub by associates of Made Men, a local rap crew.
You would be wrong.
Speaking of other subplots, my own Washington Wizards are locked in a mortal battle with the Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers that's turned into a CW/WB/UPN sitcom of it's own.
Game Six looms on Friday, so things are likely to change again by the time you read this post. But the Cliff Notes version is Wizards role player DeShawn Stevenson (yeah, the credit card dude) called King James overrated, Lebron brushes him off by saying responding would be like Jay-Z dissing a one hit wonder like Soulja Boy. Stevenson responds by inviting Soulja Boy to sit courtside at last week's playoff game. Jay-Z responds with a Stevenson diss record that gets played in DC nightclubs, which is the ultimate disrespect to The Wizards, who are now boycotting said nightclubs.
Meanwhile, on the court, Stevenson and Co. edged the Cavs in Cleveland last night, setting up the biggest Game Six in my lifetime, and wouldn't you know it, I can't afford any tickets because I bought that $6 cereal last week.
Watching grown men behave like 8 year olds = Priceless.
I. Love. This. Game.
Question: Do you think Paul Piece was actually flashing gang signs or merely expressing his "blood, sweat, and tears" ethos to his opponent? How darn trivial is this Lebron vs DeShawn feud?
Paul Pierce’s Court Gesture No Joke [Boston Herald]
Jay Z's DeShawn Song [Washington Post]
