Shaquille O’Neal

Rearview mirror: 1992 NBA Draft, Shaq and Classic cards

Esoteric 1 Comment

Rear projection: still the greatest. They don't even sell these anymore

“Let me get this straight,” my fiancé said to me back in June as I sat enrapt with NBA TV’s airing of the 2003 NBA Draft. “You’re really into this, watching old drafts?”

Well, yeah.

She lasted until around when Chris Bosh went at No. 4 before she bailed to the other room and turned on some reality show with Lamar Odom and whichever Kardashian he married.

Honestly, I couldn’t really blame her, but there’s just something about the NBA Draft I’ve always loved, dating way back to high school.

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Frozen moment: Knicks’ tenuous wait for LeBron has virtue in itself

Esoteric 2 Comments

Vanderbilt Kentucky Basketball About a decade ago, Jimmy Johnson said something I’ve always liked:

You can play it safe and be good, or you can take a chance and be great.

Unfortunately, the Dolphins’ then-coach said that to justify his pick of Daryl Gardener over some guy named Ray Lewis in the 1996 NFL Draft. But the words – if not the defensive tackle – stuck with me over the years.

I’ve come to believe that when a shot at greatness presents itself, which doesn’t happen all that often, you owe it to yourself to go for it. It’s clichéd, but it’s almost always 100% true: It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do.

That’s why for the first time in a long time, I’m cautiously excited about the Knicks. Donnie Walsh is trying to shoot the moon, and I couldn’t be more in favor of it.

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