Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop on Russell Westbrook and Jordan Brand: “Over the past quarter century (gulp), the Jordan Brand launched a business that would become an economic tentpole for sports. The brand has plenty of competition and no shoe can lend legitimacy to a professional player simply by signing them, but being a starter on Team Jordan, so to speak, is a nice, sexy résumé item for a budding superstar, given the legacy of the brand and its namesake, That’s one reason Russell Westbrook’s jumping to the Jordan Brand was deemed a big deal — for both star and brand.”
Spencer Lund of Dime: “Westbrook is no Jordan. That much is clear even if you discount everything but the first four years of MJ’s career, before a time when MJ was winning titles and became a worldwide name that still is deified today. MJ shot more efficiently and was a better defender through those early years than Westbrook’s been with OKC. But Westbrook’s bull-headed approach, his competitiveness and startling athleticism off the dribble drive, all mimic the young Jordan that hadn’t yet figured it out either. As Russell Westbrook enters his fifth season on a team that’s favored to come out of the Western Conference, he faces many of the same questions Jordan faced: Can he share the ball? Will he forfeit some offense for the betterment of the team? Like his new label-mate, the only thing Westbrook can do is go out and prove them all wrong. There are few players that better personify the Jordan Brand’s ethos.” Keep Reading…







Seriously though, why would the Thunder not keep Harden?
I already linked to Bill Simmons’ Grantland column about why the Thunder have to pay James Harden, but there’s a lot of great stuff in there. (Other than our statewide nightmare of him not writing “Thunder” being over.)
Both sides of the issue are laid out perfectly clear: It’s a game of chicken between two sides that both want each other. The Thunder are preaching their woe-is-me small market line about the luxury tax and “challenges” while Harden clearly wants the money he knows he’d get elsewhere. It’s a matter of who will blink first.
Except there may be no blinking at all. Keep Reading…