Sport for Thought: The Expansion of Roc Nation Sports

It is not everyday when a rap superstar decides to become a sports agent and represent some of the biggest names in sports. When Jay Z announced the launch of Roc Nation Sports in April of 2013 with the acquisition of ex- Scott Boras client Robinson Cano, the entire sports world was shocked. At the time, not many people took the new agency seriously and thought it would turn into another Master P situation and not last. But just last week, company president Michael Yormark announced the agencies interest in expansion through the acquisition of other agencies as well as the hiring of qualified agents.

Durant's Injury Opens Door for New MVP

Reigning MVP Kevin Durant

Over the weekend, troubling news circulated through the basketball world: Kevin Durant had been hurt and expected to miss time. Since the initial reporting, it has since been clarified as a fractured foot. A tenative six to eight week time table for recovery has been given, but the reigning MVP will have to most likely wait through the first month to two months of the season before getting a chance to defend that title. The Thunder still have Russel Westbrook, one of the best players in the NBA, and he might be ready to explode with this opportunity to run the team while Durant gets himself healthy.  More than anything, if you are the Thunder, the most important piece of this to manage and take cautiously is Durant's recovery.

NBA Extends Television Deal

On Monday, October 6, the NBA announced they had extended their television deals with Turner and Disney for nine years through the 2024-25 season.  This deal is said to be worth $24 billion and each team will receive $70 million over that time.  It appears to be a win-win-win for the league, teams, and players.

New NBA-ESPN/Turner Deal Cuts Cord

On Monday, the NBA struck a massive nine-year, $24 billion media right deal to extend current partners ESPN and Turner through 2024-25. The deal, impressive in its reach and its size, impacts a wide-range of people, including you and I. Kevin Draper summed up the different areas of high impact at Deadspin; it's thorough and well-worth the time to read. One of the major areas of focus in the deal is streaming rights, and the way the deal was negotiated, the NBA is preparing for a future where fans are pulling the plug on their cable televisions and opting for internet and mobile streaming.

NBA Preseason: 5 BOLD Predictions

As the NBA season is set to begin in about a month let’s make five bold predictions. It will be fun to come back at the end of the season and see what a genius I am. No, I’m not going to sit here and tell you the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to make the NBA Finals because if they don’t win it all we can just throw all the blame on LeBron like we always do. Well here goes nothing.

NBA vs NFL: Punishments on Acts of Violence

Over the past several of weeks, the NFL has been in the spotlight in terms of domestic violence cases with a few star players.  This has been an issue in the league for many years now and has not seemed to get much better and Commissioner Roger Goodell has been very inconsistent in terms of his punishments.  But how does the domestic violence affect the NBA?

Paul George's Injury: Another Sticking Point for Keeping Players Home?

Over the weekend, news broke from team USA basketball camp that Paul George had severely broken his leg during a USA intrasquad game.  George was coming back to defend against a James Harden break away, making a leaping attempt to block Harden's drive to the hoop.  Unfortunately for Paul, his leaping ability might have cost him this one.  As he landed his foot caught enough of the bottom of the hoop stanchion that the force from the land bent his leg at the high ankle area.  The unpleasant result was a compound fracture of George's tibia and fibula.   Just like that, the budding superstar's 2014-2015 NBA season was over before it started.

Basketball Jersey Sponsors

With millions upon millions of dollars being thrown at teams for sponsorship deals each year, their company names end up on billboards, signs, and videos at stadiums and arenas; hell, stadiums are named after sponsors!  However, the one item in basketball that has yet to be touched is the uniform.  The uniform seems to be the sacred item that will never be touched by an outside sponsor.  The pinstripes of a New York Yankee home uniform, the Bay Bridge logo on the front of the Golden State Warriors' jersey, and the number written loudly and proudly on a football jersey.  It just does not seem appropriate to add 'Toyota' or 'TD Bank' to the front of the jersey.  Yet, that could be a source of more income to an organization.

Sport for Thought: #23

When LeBron James left his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 for the Miami Heat, he decided  to exchange his #23 for #6. He said the number 23 should be retired throughout the NBA to give respect to arguably the greatest basketball player that has ever stepped foot onto a basketball court.

Hometown Delivery: LeBron James

Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven….only two. As most of you know LeBron James is going back home to start the next (and final?) chapter of his career. In his four years in Miami he reached the NBA Finals four years straight but only won two. Is this considered a failure? There are some who say it was but some who argue winning two titles is still a heck of an achievement. In his first year in Miami, the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games. I still believe losing that series, made him take a hit on his reputation. They were the heavy favorites against Dallas and they lost in five games. What a disappointment to start the “Big Three” era off. The next two years is what was expected of the Miami Heat, winning two straight titles defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. This past year, the Miami Heat were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs in five games. The Spurs were the better team but the Heat had the best player. It is unfair to blame LeBron for this loss but being the best player on the planet, he will take a lot of the heat.

Post NBA Final Takeaways

The NBA season is over. Talk about a spanking. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the two time defending champions, the Miami Heat, four games to one and it wasn't even close. In the Spurs four wins, they won by 15 or more points each game. The question now is, what will LeBron James do? Will he opt out and leave Miami or will he stay in Miami? Of course this is the first question that people think of. But lets just talk about how good the San Antonio Spurs are. The word dynasty doesn't get tossed around too much, but it's safe to say the Spurs are a dynasty and as long as Coach Popovich is coaching, the Spurs will continue to be competitive. Five championships in 15 years is remarkable but we are too busy trying to keep up with the "superstars". The Spurs are not flashy and they wear boring colors and that is a reason why not many people talk about them. Tim Duncan is a legend, but we rarely hear about him. Had it not been for Ray Allen last season, we're looking at six championships in 15 years. Here are some things to takeaway from these NBA Finals.

Market Power: NBA Rookie Edition

The NBA postseason is coming to an end with the finals beginning this week. It is a rematch of last year’s thrilling finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. It’s going to be a dogfight. Even though the finals will be going on, June 26th is what many of the bottom dweller teams are looking forward to being the NBA draft. This year’s draft has a ton of talent, but does talent translate into marketability? Earlier I discussed the three players left in the playoffs I would target for marketing. Now I will take a look at three NBA soon to be rookies and why I would choose them to market my company.

Will the Ping Pong Balls Make Sixer Fans Happy?

The day is finally here. The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight and it will be fun to see how the ping pong balls play out. The Bucks and Sixers have the best chance to get the number one overall pick at 25 and 19.9 percent, respectively. Followed by the Magic at 15.6 percent, Jazz at 10.4 percent and Celtics at 10.3 percent. Being a Sixers fan, I am praying they get the number one pick to take Andrew Wiggins. Although there have been some NBA executives who say they would rather have Jabari Parker over Wiggins, I believe it would be a HUGE mistake if Wiggins is not drafted number one. The Sixers definitely went all in on this years draft to rebuild their team. Trading all-star point guard Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans for the rights to Nerlens Noel (who has sat out the entire season), and this years first round pick (top five protected) during the draft last year said it all. If everything falls to place here is what I want the Sixers to do.

Market Power: NBA Postseason Edition

The NBA postseason has been off to a thrilling start. With five out of the eight series in the first round going to seven games, you can’t ask for a more exciting start. There have also been some big headlines this postseason including Donald Sterling’s racist comments, Roy Hibbert’s disappearance for so many games and the Mark Jackson’s firing in Golden State after a first round exit to the Los Angeles Clippers. Even though there have been a number of headlines, I decided to take a different route by taking a look at which remaining players left in the NBA postseason companies should target to help market their company. I purposefully left out LeBron James and Kevin Durant in this because they are the two obvious picks. Here are my top three.

Full 90: Amid sport, a global unifier, racism continues to divide

Actions speak louder than words.

During a week soiled with racism in sports, one commissioner, Adam Silver, appeased the public with his banishment of Los Angles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, while one player’s actions, Barcelona’s Dani Alves, ignited a social media campaign to fight racism in soccer. Adam Silver’s decision to ban Sterling will serve as the template for the league’s zero-tolerance policy for racist behavior. The commissioner’s action has been met with great support by team owners, players, and fans worldwide. Conversely, a battle to erase longstanding racism in soccer is only just beginning.

Abolishing the 'One and Done'?

For the 2006 NBA Draft, the NBA implemented a new rule adding an age limit to players entering:  19 years of age or one year removed from college.  The term 'one and done' was then coined for this rule as many of the top players played one year in college, only to declare for the NBA draft after the season had ended.  Since its implementation, many college student-athletes have left college for the NBA to (1) become a successful  professional athletes and (2) to earn a payday.  However, it appears that the latter may be considered the commonality.

Are the 76ers "Tanking" or do they Actually Suck?

Year in and year out, fans witness teams in all leagues appear to "give up" or "not try to win."  With the 2014 NBA Draft appearing to be one of the strongest and deepest in recent times, it appeared from the beginning that some teams would attempt to purposely lose in order to have the opportunity to draft a talent like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker.  This past week, the Philadelphia 76ers lost a franchise-record, twenty-one straight games.  The question is:  Are they tanking on purpose, or are they actually a bad team?

Atlantic Division Noteworthies: Knicks, Sixers

For most of the season the Atlantic Division has displayed some fairly bad basketball.  If it weren't for the Brooklyn Nets seriously turning their season around, and the Toronto Raptors surge following the trade of Rudy Gay, the Atlantic Division might have boasted five sub .500 teams. There are only five teams in the division. As it stands three teams, Philadelphia, Boston and New York will be finishing well below that mark. While unlikely the wheels could still fall off for the Nets.  Toronto looks safe, as they lead the division with a 37-28 record.  However, as the proverbial stretch-run to the playoffs begins in the NBA, it may come as a surprise that two of the below .500 teams from this very division have recently commanded NBA headlines. 

Is Damian Lillard Leaving Adidas?

Is Damian Lillard, the rising star of the Portland Trail Blazers, about to opt out? No, this isn’t about his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers when he was drafted in 2012. It’s about his shoe deal with Adidas. Damian Lillard signed a shoe endorsement deal during his rookie year with Adidas and it has incentives which allows him to opt out of his contract. 

Three + Philadelphia = The Answer

If you don't know... shame on you

This past Saturday, March 1, 2014, many former Philadelphia 76ers and a sell-out crowd gathered at the Wells Fargo Center for a celebration they'd never forget and a Sixer's game they might soon wish to forget.  One might ask, what could the Philadelphia 76ers possibly be celebrating in a season where they are 15-45 and second worst in the entire NBA.  Great question, but the celebration had nothing to do with anybody playing in the game that night.