The 10-man rotation, starring Moses Malone, underappreciated legend
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: ESPN.com. J.A. Adande: “The more you read about Moses Malone, the more impossible it is to avoid the conclusion that Malone is most underappreciated great player of the modern NBA.”
PF: The Nation. Dave Zirin on the shared legacy of Malone and Darryl Dawkins, another former 76ers center gone too soon: “These were men who changed the people around them. They took teammates, family members, and especially kids aside when the cameras weren’t on, and imparted indelible memories as casually as some of us send tweets. They took to mentoring not as a burden but as a blessing, feeling the need to be kind for the sake of being kind.”
SF: GQ. Bethlehem Shoals: “Malone was as hungry as a journeyman bench player; he just also happened to have been born a superstar. He played like he had to prove himself on every possession, as if reputation were nothing and you were only as good as your last play.”
SG: NBA.com. Fran Blinebury recalls Malone, fresh off his second Most Valuable Player award with the Rockets, working out with a 19-year-old University of Houston phenom named Akeem (no H yet) Olajuwon in “perhaps the greatest teacher-student class project in basketball history.”
PG: SB Nation and The Sporting News . A pair of interviews with Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, who see big things ahead for the New Orleans Pelicans thanks to a combination of renewed health, the addition of well-regarded offensive coach Alvin Gentry and the continued growth of All-NBA power forward Anthony Davis.
6th: Hardwood Paroxysm. I knew it’s taken Daryl Morey an awful lot of moves and machinations to get the build this Houston Rockets roster, but when you go step-by-step over how he’s built it over the past few years, the sheer number of transactions and amount of roster churn necessary to build the team feels staggering.
7th: Eye on Basketball. Most of us expected that Tristan Thompson would have signed a long-term extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers by now, but the restricted free agent’s situation remains unresolved. Zach Harper wonders if maybe that’s because the Cavs aren’t so sure that Thompson’s a necessity rather than a luxury.
8th: Sports on Earth. Inspired by the late “Chocolate Thunder,” Shawn Fury comes in praise of backboard shatterers.
9th: Blog a Bull. Lake to this, but a good look from Tyler Pleiss at how Nikola Mirotic might fit into Fred Hoiberg’s offense.
10th: Interbasket. You know how you wanted to learn all about the official team nicknames of every country’s national basketball team? Well, now you can do that just by clicking on one link and scrolling for, like, quite a while!
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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