From the Mind of Charles Bennett

A Graduate Student in Public Policy tells you what he's REALLY thinking

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MLB Trade Deadline: 20 Players Who Are NOT Going to Be Moved at the Deadline

Well, it’s that time of year again: the time when bottom-feeders fire-sell and contenders look to strengthen their rosters.  In that spirit, here are 20 players who are going to stay right where they are for the rest of the season

20. Albert Pujols

Key Stats: .241/.288./.395, 14 HR, 55 RBI, -0.9 WAR

The Angels still have an outside shot at making the postseason, meaning it’s unlikely they’ll be sellers.  And if they are sellers, it won’t be of Pujols, who has an albatross of a contract ($114 million+ still owed him), which, coupled with a career-low slugging percentage, means that no contender will express interest.  He is prevented from being higher on this list by the fact that there’s an outside chance of the Angels cutting ties with him, in the manner that the Red Sox just did with Pablo Sandoval.

Probable Landing Spot: Angels

19. Ervin Santana

Key Stats: 10-6, 2.99 ERA, 91 K, 12 QS, 3.4 WAR

When you’re a contender, it’s important to have solid pitching.  And, surprisingly, the Twins are contenders.  Santana is low on this list for several reasons, including the fact that the Twins are no longer tops in the Central, the Twins’ long history of being sellers at the deadline, and Santana’s advanced age and general roller-coaster of a career.  There’s also the disturbing fact that Santana is winless in the last seven days with 0 strikeouts.

Probable Landing Spot: Twins

18. Corey Knebel

Key Stats: 0-2, 15 SV, 11 HLD, 1.66 ERA, 16.0 K/9, 2.1 WAR

The Brewers sit at the top of the NL Central, and if they want this to be a pennant-winning year, they’re going to need a good closer.  Fortunately, they already have one, and his name is Corey Knebel.

Probable Landing Spot: Brewers

17. Stephen Strasburg

Key Stats: 9-3, 3.43 ERA, 128 K, 12 QS, 2.5 WAR

In the 2017 MLB-All Star Game, Strasburg notched a DNP.  Don’t let that DNP fool you: the Nats are still planning on holding on to one-third of one of the best rotations in baseball.  Look for Stevie Wonder to figure into the Nats’ postseason rotation this October

Probable Landing Spot: Nationals

16. Aaron Judge

Key Stats: .326/.446/.684, 30 HR, 66 RBI, 5.3 WAR

The Yankees aren’t ones to sell at the deadline, and even falling back in the division won’t change that. Expect them to hold on to a young blaster who is projected not only to be the future of the franchise, but of all of Major League Baseball.

Probable Landing Spot: Yankees

15. Kris Bryant

Key Stats: .265/.394/.520, 18 HR, 38 RBI, 2.9 WAR

Even though the defending champs are hovering around .500 and face long odds to make it to the postseason, the Jose Quintana trade indicates that the Cubs won’t be sellers at the deadline.  And, even if they were, the defending MVP, who’s still only 25 years old and having a halfway decent season, looks to be a mainstay of the North Siders for years to come.

Probable Landing Spot: Cubs

14. Kenley Jansen

Key Stats: 4-0, 22 SV, 0.93 ERA, 13.5 K/9, 1.8 WAR

The best closer in baseball happens to be playing on the best team in baseball, who in addition has major question marks bullpen-wise.  It’s much more likely that quality arms join Jansen in Bums’ bullpen rather than Jansen joining another team’s bullpen.

Probable Landing Spot: Dodgers

13. Craig Kimbrel

Key stats: 2-0, 23 SV, 1.19 ERA, 16.2 K/9, 2.3 WAR

Kimbrel’s stats this season are pretty impressive, including a .211 BABIP, a 87.9 LOB%, and 29 GFs. With the Red Sox likely division winners and the 9th inning man a key part of all postseason runs, look for Craig Kimbrel to NOT make a move this deadline.

Probable Landing Spot: Red Sox

12. George Springer

Key Stats: .310/.383/.611, 27 HR, 62 RBI, 4.2 WAR

You gotta score runs if you want to win ball games.  And if you want to score runs, you’ve gotta have a guy who can drive in runs (Springer has a 1.029 OPS with runners on this season).  George Springer helps the Astros score runs, so he’s likely to be wearing the same Astros uniform as he was earlier this season.  I hope the Astros remember to wash it.

Probable Landing Spot: Astros

11. Mookie Betts

Key Stats: .274/.351/.840, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 16 SB, 4.3 WAR

Boston boasts bums who blast bombs: Betts, Bogaerts, Benintendi and Bradley.  Big bats mean big bucks in Beantown.  Betts will be back in the Back Bay.

Probable Landing Spot: Red Sox

10. Bobby Bonilla

Key Stats: .000/.000/.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0.0 WAR

If it’s a guy who won’t strike out, Bobby Bonilla is your man: his last strikeout came in 2001.  

However, it is unlikely the six-time All-Star will change unis this season, on account of a player-friendly deal that has him under contract until 2035.  Bonilla is also 54 years old and hasn’t played in a game in a decade and a half.

Probable Landing Spot: Mets

9. Charlie Blackmon

Key Stats:  .321/.373/.585, 20 HR, 61 RBI, 2.3 WAR

We know that Colorado, along with Oregon and Washington, is one of the three states with the most hipsters. Therefore, it’s very important for the Mile High Club to reach “peak” beard, a feat made much more attainable by the retention of Charlie Blackmon (Now, if they could only add Dallas Kuechel and Jayson Werth…).  Oh, and also hit their way into the playoffs.  Blackmon can do that too.

Probable Landing Spot: Rockies

8. Francisco Lindor

Key Stats:  .252/.311/.764, 14 HR, 43 RBI, 1.3 WAR

I am of the opinion that Lindor was robbed of the 2015 Rookie of the Year.  With the defending AL pennant winners on a hot streak that puts them in Top 5 of the Benallen Power Rankings of Power, now is not the time for the Indians to be trading a young anchor.  Also look to teams to pass on Lindor due to his .214/.261/.339 triple slash in June, and the fact that he plays terribly in Detroit.

Probable Landing Spot: Indians

7. Chris Sale

Key Stats: 11-4, 2.75 ERA, 178 K, 15 QS, 3.8 WAR

If Boston wants to hold off the rest of the East and make a return to at least the NLCS, they need a new third baseman.  But they shouldn’t trade their Cy Young-contending pitcher to get one.  Also, Halloween is coming up, and the Red Sox need somebody to play Jake Skellington.

Probable Landing Spot: Red Sox

6. Bryce Harper

Key Stats:  .326/.432./.606, 22 HR, 68 RBI, 3.8 WAR

Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Bryce Harper’s 2017 season:

1.       He has a 1.042 OPS on grass

2.       He has yet to be caught stealing in games vs. the NL Central

3.       He is batting .450 with 8 walks against the St. Louis Cardinals

4.       When the count is 2-and-1, he has a slugging percentage of .750

5.       He has a .571 OBP with RISP and 2 outs

Do those stats have anything to do with his trade value?  Probably not.  But either way, he’s only 24 and he’s staying on the Nationals this season.

Probable Landing Spot: Nationals

5. Max Scherzer

Key Stats: 10-5, 2.10 ERA, 173 K, 15 QS, 4.8 WAR

When you’re trying to make a serious run at the pennant, as the Washington Nationals apparently are (though we all know the wheels will fall off in the NLDS), it’s very useful to have a Cy Young winner in your rotation.  Max Scherzer already has one Cy Young, and could.  Yeah, probably a mainstay with the ballclub in our nation’s capital.

Probable Landing Spot: Nationals

4. Jose Altuve

Key Stats: .349/.419/.553, 13 HR, 18 SB, 4.8 WAR

WAR: what is it good for? One of the things it’s good for is explaining why the Houston Astros are likely to hold on to that little guy Jose Altuve.  Contenders are always looking for multi-tool players who can bat .300 with 50 double plays turned and 18 stolen bags, and the 5’5” Altuve is guilty on all charges. But can he ride all roller coasters?

Probable Landing Spot: Astros

3. Clayton Kershaw

Key Stats: 14-2, 2.18 ERA, 159 K, 16 QS, 3.8 WAR

Perennial Cy Young contender Clayton Kershaw needs to be on a team where he can pitch in and win some playoff games.  That team could be the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Oh, he’s already on the Dodgers?   Good!

Probable Landing Spot: Dodgers

2. Carlos Correa

Key Stats: .324/.402/.573, 20 HR, 66 RBI, 4.8 WAR

The Arizona Diamondbacks, a contender in most other respects, have a lackluster four-man platoon at shortstop.  Dealing for Carlos Correa could really improve their October fortunes.  Too bad the presumptive AL MVP, who’s only 22 years old, isn’t going to leave the Astros.

Probable Landing Spot: Astros

1. Cody Bellinger

Key Stats: .261/.341/.613, 25 HR, 58 RBI, 2.3 WAR

Corey Bellinger is the quintessential type of guy you really want to hold on to: he’s young, he’s hot, he’s on a contender, and the team he’s on doesn’t have a lot of other options. The Dodgers’ repeated unwillingness to trade him indicate an almost certainty of him staying in a Dodger uniform.

Probable Landing Spot: Dodgers

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Charles’ 2017 MLB All-Star Picks

I WILL adhere to the at-least-one-All-Star-per-team ruling.  If the team doesn’t really deserve All-Stars, I usually chose one of the players with the best WAR regardless of position.

I will allocate the 34 man roster as follows:

Starting batters at each of the nine positions, including DH

Reserves at each of those nine positions.

A third catcher and two additional batters, one of whom is the “34th man”

Eight starting pitchers (one starts and is listed with the starters, others are used later and are listed with the pitchers)

Five relievers, including at least one middle reliever

National League

C: Buster Posey, SF (.351 BA, .979 OPS, 21 R, 7 HR, 12 RBI, 1 SB, 2.3 WAR)

1B: Freddie Freeman, ATL (.341 BA, 1.209 OPS, 35 R, 14 HR, 25 RBI, 4 SB, 2.7 WAR)

2B: Daniel Murphy, WSH (.326 BA, .941 OPS, 31 R, 9 HR, 36 RBI, 0 SB, 0.6 WAR)

3B: Jedd Gyorko, STL (.316 AVG, .927 OPS, 21 R, 8 HR, 22 RBI, 2 SB, 2.4 WAR)

SS: Zach Cozart, CIN (.347 BA, 1.030 OPS, 30 R, 7 HR, 27 RBI, 2 SB, 2.9 WAR)

OF-1: Bryce Harper, WSH (.322 BA, 1.076 OPS, 44 R, 15 HR, 41 RBI, 0 SB, 2.5 WAR)

OF-2: Marcell Ozuna, MIA (.316 AVG, .955 OPS, 29 R, 14 HR, 39 RBI, 0 SB, 1.9 WAR) OF-3: Michael Conforto, NYM (.318 BA, 1.058 OPS, 36 R, 13 HR, 33 RBI, 1 SB, 2.2 WAR)

DH: Ryan Zimmerman, WSH (.371 BA, 1.115 OPS, 34 R, 14 HR, 41 RBI, 1 SB, 2.2 WAR)

SP: Mike Leake, STL (5-3, 9 QS, 2.24 ERA, .94 WHIP, 48 K, .599 OPSA, 3.1 WAR)

 C-2: Yasmani Grandal, LAD (.288 BA, .830 OPS, 17 R, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 0 SB, 1.7 WAR)

C-3: J.T. Realmuto, MIA (.294 BA, .791 OPS, 21 R, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 1 SB, 0.7 WAR)

1B-2: Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (.304 BA, .997 OPS, 46 R, 12 HR, 39 RBI, 12 SB, 2.4 WAR)

2B-2: Ben Zobrist, CHC (.252 BA, .799 OPS, 18 R, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 0 SB, 0.8 WAR)

3B-2: Nolan Arenado, COL (.283 AVG, .896 OPS, 36 R, 12 HR, 34 RBI, 1 SB, 2.4 WAR)

SS-2: Corey Seager, LAD (.285 AVG, .856 OPS, 36 R, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 2 SB, 1.6 WAR)

OF-4: Matt Kemp, ATL (.341 AVG, .971 OPS, 24 R, 9 HR, 29 RBI, 0 SB, 0.7 WAR)

OF-5: Charlie Blackmon, COL (.327 AVG, .992 OPS, 39 R, 13 HR, 46 RBI, 4 SB, 1.5 WAR) OF-6: Billy Hamilton, CIN (.256 AVG, .641 OPS, 37 R, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 28 SB, 0.7 WAR)

DH-2: Eric Thames, MIL (.278 BA, 1.007 OPS, 40 R, 13 HR, 26 RBI, 2 SB, 1.7 WAR)

33: Cesar Hernandez, PHI (.282 BA, .757 OPS, 35 R, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 6 SB, 1.3 WAR)

34: Kris Bryant, CHC (.277 BA, .934 OPS, 34 R, 11 HR, 23 RBI, 4 SB, 1.9 WAR)

 SP-2: Clayton Kershaw, LAD (7-2, 9 QS, 2.37 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 78 K, .617 OPSA, 2.7 WAR)

SP-3:  Max Scherzer, WSH (5-3, 8 QS, 2.77 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 89 K, .601 OPSA, 2.2 WAR)

SP-4: Ivan Nova, PIT (5-4, 9 QS, 2.92 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 40 K, .663 OPSA, 1.7 WAR)

SP-5: Robbie Ray, ARI (5-3, 7 QS, 3.00 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 84 K, .605 OPSA, 2.9 WAR)

SP-6: Lance Lynn, STL (4-3, 6 QS, 2.93 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 53 K, .649 OPSA, 1.0 WAR)

SP-7: Stephen Strasburg, WAS (6-1, 8 QS, 2.94 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 74 K, .600 OPSA, 1.7 WAR)

SP-8: Kyle Hendricks, CHC (4-3, 5 QS, 3.75 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 48 K, .669 OPSA, 1.4 WAR)

MR-1: Brad Hand, SD (0-3, 2 SV, 6 HLD, 1.82 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 11.5 K/9, .529 OPSA, 1.0 WAR)

CL-1: Greg Holland, COL (0-0, 19 SV, 1.37 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 12.8 K/9, .423 OPSA, 1.3 WAR)

CL-2: Wade Davis, CHC (2-0, 10 SV, 0.98 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 11.8 K/9, .409 OPSA, 0.9 WAR)

CL-3: Kenley Jansen, LAD (2-0, 8 SV, 1 HLD, 1.35 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 15.8 K/9, .425 OPSA, 0.6 WAR)

CL-4/ MR-2: Corey Knebel, MIL (0-0, 3 SV, 11 HLD, 1.08 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15.8 K/9, .477 OPSA, 1.1 WAR)

 American League

C: Salvador Perez, KC (.262 AVG, .780 OPS, 20 R, 11 HR, 30 RBI, 0 SB, 0.8 WAR)

1B: Yonder Alonso, OAK (.291 AVG, 1.048 OPS, 23 R, 14 HR, 31 RBI, 1 SB, 1.6 WAR)

2B: Jose Altuve, HOU (.319 AVG, .891 OPS, 36 R, 7 HR, 27 RBI, 10 SB, 2.5 WAR)

3B: Miguel Sano, MIN (.292 AVG, .996 OPS, 33 R, 12 HR, 39 RBI, 0 SB, 2.0 WAR)

SS: Francisco Lindor, CLE (.276 AVG, .886 OPS, 36 R, 12 HR, 25 RBI, 3 SB, 1.7 WAR)

OF-1: Mike Trout, LAA (.337 AVG, 1.203 OPS, 36 R, 16 HR, 36 RBI, 10 SB, 3.4 WAR)

OF-2: Aaron Judge, NYY (.327 AVG, 1.118 OPS, 40 R, 17 HR, 37 RBI, 4 SB, 3.1 WAR)

OF-3: Avisail Garcia, CHW (.332 AVG, .922 OPS, 28 R, 8 HR, 37 RBI, 1 SB, 2.4 WAR)

DH: Corey Dickerson, TB (.341 AVG, .992 OPS, 40 R, 12 HR, 25 RBI, 0 SB, 2.8 WAR)

SP: Ervin Santana, MIN (7-2, 9 QS, 1.75 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 56 K, .483 OPSA, 3.1 WAR)

 C-2: Alex Avila, DET (.313 AVG, 1.029 OPS, 15 R, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 0 SB, 1.3 WAR)

C-3: Martin Maldonado, LAA (.262 AVG, .723 OPS, 15 R, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 0 SB, 1.0 WAR)

1B-2: Logan Morrison, TB (.249 AVG, .909 OPS, 29 R, 15 HR, 36 RBI, 0 SB, 1.5 WAR)

2B-2: Starlin Castro, NYY (.324 AVG, .838 OPS, 34 R, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 0 SB, 1.4 WAR)

3B-2: Joey Gallo, TEX (.207 BA, .844 OPS, 36 R, 16 HR, 33 RBI, 4 SB, 1.5 WAR)

SS-2: Carlos Correa, HOU (.316 AVG, .914 OPS, 35 R, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 0 SB, 2.3 WAR)

OF-4: Mookie Betts, BOS (.271 AVG, .840 OPS, 32 R, 9 HR, 32 RBI, 8 SB, 2.5 WAR)

OF-5: Brett Gardner, NYY (.276 AVG, .894 OPS, 35 R, 11 HR, 25 RBI, 5 SB, 2.5 WAR)

OF-6:  Steven Souza, TB (.275 AVG, .887 OPS, 27 R, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 1 SB, 2.0 WAR)

DH-2: Nelson Cruz, SEA (.279 BA, .881 OPS, 23 R, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 1 SB, 1.1 WAR)

33: Jean Segura, SEA (.344 AVG, .858 OPS, 29 R, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 7 SB, 1.4 WAR)

34: Justin Smoak, TOR (.276 AVG, .885 OPS, 29 R, 12 HR, 34 RBI, 0 SB, 1.0 WAR)

 SP-2: Dallas Keuchel, HOU (8-0, 8 QS, 1.81 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 62 K, .522 OPSA, 2.6 WAR)

SP-3: Jason Vargas, KC (6-3, 7 QS, 2.30 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 51 K, .630 OPSA, 2.3 WAR)

SP-4: Lance McCullers, HOU (6-1, 8 QS, 2.48 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 73 K, .609 OPSA, 1.7 WAR)

SP-5: Michael Fullmer, DET (5-3, 10 QS, 2.65 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 54 K, .609 OPSA, 2.3 WAR)

SP-6: Chris Sale, BOS (6-2, 9 QS, 2.77 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 110 K, .544 OPSA, 2.2 WAR)

SP-7: Dylan Bundy, BAL (6-3, 10 QS, 2.89 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 49 K, .691 OPSA, 2.4 WAR)

SP-8: Yu Darvish, TEX (5-3, 8 QS, 2.97 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 72 K, .644 OPSA, 2.0 WAR)

MR-1: Andrew Miller, CLE (3-0, 13 HLD, 0.34 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 12.7 K/9, .363 OPSA, 1.8 WAR)

MR-2: Tommy Kahnle, CHW (0-1, 5 HLD, 1.29 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 16.7 K/9, .437 OPSA, 0.9 WAR)

CL-1: Craig Kimbrel, BOS (2-0, 15 SV, 0.75 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, 16.9 K/9, .260 OPSA, 1.6 WAR)

CL-2: Alex Colome, TB (1-2, 15 SV, 1 HLD, 2.05 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, .499 OPSA, 0.7 WAR)

CL-3: Roberto Osuna, TOR (2-0, 11 SV, 3.05 ERA, 10.9 K/9, .583 OPSA, 0.92 WHIP, 0.6 WAR)

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Auld Acquaintance 2016: A Sports Retrospective.

Well, 2016 is over, so it’s time for my annual sports retrospective:

First off, the champions of 2016:

Super Bowl 50: Denver def. Carolina, 24-10

2016 Stanley Cup Finals: Pittsburgh def. San Jose, 4 games to 2

2016 NBA Finals: Cleveland def. Golden State, 4 games to 3

2016 World Series: Chicago Cubs def. Cleveland Indians, 4 games to 3

2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game: Alabama def. Clemson, 45-40

2016 March Madness Final: Villanova def. North Carolina, 77-74

Winner of the Men’s Marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics:  Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya

Winner of the Women’s All-Round in Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics: Simone Biles, USA

Winner of the medal count at the 2016 Summer Olympics: United States

2016 United States presidential election: Donald Trump def. Hillary Clinton, 62,859,071-65,537,110 306-232

(Don’t let anyone fool you: politics is a blood sport)

Coach of the Year

5. Jack Del Rio (Oakland Raiders): Somehow, the Oakland Raiders are relevant again, or at least they were until the wheel fell off the Carr.  Have we Jack Del Rio to thank for this?

4. LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers): Got David Blatt fired, replaced him with Tyronn Lue, who’s just LeBron’s stooge, dragged the Cavs kicking and screaming to the Finals, won the Finals

3. Terry Franconia (Cleveland Indians):  Everybody on his team was injured, and they still made the World Series.

2. Chris Peterson (University of Washington):  Dragged a team that hasn’t been thought of as a powerhouse in decades to the College Football Playoff, in part due to an arsenal of trick plays

1. Joe Maddon (Chicago Cubs): Oh, yeah, a team that hadn’t won a World Series in 108 years won this year.

SoCal Athlete

5. Sam Darnold: Things were looking bad for USC when they started 1-3.  Then they found Sam Darnold and won 8 straight behind the OC phenom who’s completed 68% of his passes, with 26 TDs against only eight picks.

4. Allyson Felix: CHICKEN LEGS!  As a result of her performance at the 2016 Olympics, the San Fernando Valley native is now the most decorated female track and field athlete of all time (She won golds in both the relays, and a silver in the 400 meters).

3. Corey Seager: The Dodgers’ rookie won the Rookie of the Year, was 3rd in MVP voting, hit .308, and had 26 homers and 321 total bags.

2. Mike Trout:  Yes, the LA Angels are still irrelevant, and still don’t actually play in LA County.  But they have this schmo Mike Trout, who was pretty good this season, with a .315/.441/.550 triple slash and 29 dingers.

1. Nneka Ogwumike: Good thing this isn’t a podcast and I don’t need to know how to pronounce that.  Lest you forget, LA DOES have a championship team this year: the WNBA Sparks. They were led by Nneka Ogwumike, who shot 65% from the floor (65% from the floor in the NBA?  Is that real?  Apparently yes; she made 23 straight at one point) while averaging 20 points and 9 boards a game.

Really, Really Awful Person/Thing/Team of the Year

2. Cleveland Browns: Founded in 1946, wear orange helmets, and very, very awful

1. Donald Trump: Born in 1946, wears an orange helmet, and very, very awful

(If you want some people who don’t wear orange helmets, consider Floyd Mayweather and Yulia Efimova)

Team of the Year

5. Alabama Crimson Tide: Nick Saban began the year by winning a national championship, and then won the first 13 games of the 2016 college football season

4. Real Madrid: Won the UEFA Champions League

3. US Women’s Gymnastics team:  Generally kicked a lot of butt.  Won 9 of a possible 18 medals in Rio, including 4 of a possible six golds.  Won the all-around medal by 10 points (for context, 2nd and 8th were separated by 3.35 points)

2. UConn women: Four straight NCAA Championships; hasn’t lost a game in 2016

1. Chicago Cubs.  108 years.  108 years.  108 years.

Event/Game/Moment

5. 2016 WNBA Finals: Extended to the max five games, with the final game decided by one point and two other games decided by six point or less.

4. Brazil def. Germany, 5-4 on penalties, to win first gold medal in men’s soccer (Can you believe they’d never won that before?)

3. LeBron’s block of Andre Iguodala: The play that won, and defined, Cleveland’s upset win the NBA Finals.

2. Katie Ledecky’s 800 meters:  Like Secretariat’s Belmont, but in the water.

1. World Series Game 7: Possibly one of the most exciting and nail-biting baseball games in history.  And it ended in history.

Small Goodbyes (Retirements)

10. Dick Enberg: Long a figure in SoCal broadcasting.  Got his start calling UCLA championship basketball in the 1960s, called Angels and later Padres games, and announced the Super Bowl and Rose Bowl

9. Marshawn Lynch: The Seahawks running back unexpectedly retired during Super Bowl 50 media frenzy at the age of 30.

8. Alex Rodriguez: Mariners, Rangers and Yankees player who juiced his way to 696 homers, 3,115 hits, and millions and millions of dollars of contracts; been irrelevant for years but finally hung ‘em up following the 2016 season.

7. Kevin Garnett: The longtime Timberwolves forward finally hung them up after 21 seasons, leaving behind a title, an MVP and 12 All-D selections.

6. David Ortiz: The longtime Red Sox DH went out with a bang, with 38 dingers and a .315/.401/.620 triple slash in what he had announced as his final season.

5. Tim Duncan: After fading away in the 2016 NBA Playoffs, the five-time NBA champion announced his retirement over the summer

4. Peyton Manning: Manning finished off a career as one of the game’s great quarterbacks by getting carried to a Super Bowl victory last February.

3. Michael Phelps: It was long rumored that Rio would be it for the 28-time medalist, but he made it official earlier this month.

2. Kobe Bryant: The greatest Laker of all time, Kobe announced a farewell tour during the 2015-16 season, finishing it off by dropping 60 points in his final game at Staples Center.

1. Vin Scully: Dodger baseball meant Vinny’s voice since time immemorial (actually, since 1950), but the 89-year-old called it quits in an emotional farewell on October 2.

Big Goodbyes (In Memorium)

10. Craig Sager (b. 1951): Sideline reporter, first to interview Hank Aaron after his 715th homer, longtime TNT NBA sideline guy, wore colorful suits.

9. LaVell Edwards (b. 1930): Longtime coach at BYU, second-highest win total with one program, last coach to win a national championship with a mid-major school.

8. Clyde Lovellette (b. 1929): Lakers big man, was first to complete the “Basketball Triple Crown” of an NCAA title, an NBA Title, and an Olympic Gold Medal.

7. Sammy Lee (b. 1920): Korean-American diver, won platform golds in 1948 and 1952, attended Occidental College before earning M.D. at USC.

6. Nate Thurmond (b. 1941): Warriors big man, member of NBA 50th Anniversary Team, first to record a quadruple-double.

5. Jose Fernandez (b. 1992): Young Marlins phenom, 2013 NL Rookie of the Year, two-time All-Star (trivia: Fernandez was born 20 days after fellow Marlin Ichiro Suzuki made his debut for the Orix Blue Wave)

4. Gordie Howe (b. 1928): 23-team NHL All-Star, won four Stanley Cups, played professional hockey in six decades (1946-80, 1996), second all-time in goals scored.

3. Pat Summitt (b. 1952): Only NCAA women’s coach with 1000 victories, won 8 NCAA titles as coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols.

2. Arnold Palmer (b. 1929): First to majorly monetize a golf career, won 62 PGA Tour stops, including 4 Master’s.

1. Muhammed Ali (b. 1942): World Heavyweight champion in the 1960s and 70s, noted for opposition to Vietnam War.

Female Athlete

5. Allyson Felix (see blurb for So-Cal athlete)

4. Nneka Ogwumike (see blurb for So-Cal athlete)

3. Breanna Stewart: Four years, four NCAA women’s basketball championships, three national player of the year awards, an Olympic Gold Medal and WNBA Rookie of the Year

2. Simone Biles: The little lady who finished the Olympics with four gold medals and at 19 is already the most decorated American gymnast ever.

1. Katie Ledecky: If you ask me, the most dominant athlete of the 2016 Summer Olympics.  Did I mention she won the 800 meter freestyle by TWELVE SECONDS?

Male Athlete

5. Sidney Crosby: Finally lived up to the hype by hoisting the Cup.  Also won the MVP of 2016 World Cup of Hockey, which is a big deal up north.

4. Kris Bryant: One of several young phenoms who guided the Chicago Cubs to the World Series

3. Russell Westbrook: In the time it takes you to read this article, Russell Westbrook will have notched three more triple-doubles.

2. Usain Bolt: Yadi, yadi, yadi, only guy to win the 100/200/4x100 relay triple thrice.

1. Michael Phelps: After a disappointing 2012 Olympics and repeated struggles with substance abuse, the greatest swimmer in history redeemed himself with five more gold medals.

Athlete of the Year: Ledecky

[purplebackpack89]

PBPolitix: What I Don’t Like about NeverHillaryites (and why they’re wrong)

As you may be aware, following Bernie Sanders’ defeat in the primary, I quickly moved to supporting Hillary Clinton for the general election.  All other Bernie Sanders supporters should have followed my lead. But thousands haven’t, refusing to vote for Hillary in the general.  I find that foolish.  Here’s where these NeverHillary people are coming from, and why I find each of those things to be wrong.  

Siloing

This morning I saw a meme where somebody claimed that he'd never met a legit Hillary supporter in real life.  This illustrates the siloing that has occurred among NeverHillaryites/Bernie-or-Busters.  As a result of the Great Sort and the generational divide, Bernie supporters are most likely to associate in circles with other Bernie supporters.  They also self-select media outlets like Young Turks with a pro-Bernie/anti-establishment bent, rather than doing as I do to listen to PBS and other mainstream media outlets, then doing research to see if what they say check out.  Their sheer vitriol has scared off the Hillary supporters who are their friends from saying anything.  And considering that NeverHillary types consider Hillary voters (primary or general) to be mindless sheep or paid trolls, can you really blame them from keeping their mouths shut?

And the fact that Bernie supporters have surrounded themselves only with Bernie media and other Bernie supporters have led them to believe relatively far-fetched conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, most considering the fact that she (and therefore discounting the 13 million flesh bodies that actually voted for).  If Bernie supporters actually realized that these people exist, and interacted more and more positively with them, I think they’d be more comfortable voting for Hillary.

 Assessment of Trump

NeverHillaryites are often quite upset with the two-party system.  They want it gone and want options other than Hillary and Trump. They fail to accept that, like it or not, those two are the only two who can get elected this time around, and abolition of the two-party system will have to wait for another day.  Also, the two-party system will persist as long as both GOP and Democrats both win elections.  If you want a party realignment that results in a Bernie party/Greens/Peace and Freedom/Working Families becoming a major party in addition to a Hillary/Bill/center-lef party and maybe also the GOP and/or the libertarians, you’ve gotta hope for the downfall of the GOP as a major party.  And that ain’t happening until it stops winning executive elections and chambers with any kind of consistency.

Most (but not all) NeverHillaryites disapprove of Donald Trump, though some of them think that Donald Trump is no worse than Hillary, and perhaps even better.  This is flat-out wrong, and frankly comes from a position of privilege.  Trump (and Pence and their far-right platform) are unambiguously much worse than Hillary.  Trump will appoint 3-4 conservative nominees to the Supreme Court.  Trump will repeal Obamacare and most other leftist gains under Obama as quickly as humanly possible.  Trump will let Paul Ryan have a free hand with the most regressive budget plans in almost a century.  Civil rights, particularly for our LGBT brethren, will be trampled as violent white supremacists will be even more emboldened than they are right now.  And I haven’t even touched on Trump’s mental instability…  

Some NeverHillaryites them rationalize that a Trump presidency “wouldn’t be that bad, and might teach the party a lesson”.  Parties don’t swing toward the extremes with their nominees after losing if they actually are interested in winning: the GOP lost five straight elections to the New Deal coalition.  The only thing that stopped the streak? Nominating the centrist Dwight Eisenhower (A similar phenomenon occurred with Bill Clinton).  If you want more recent history, consider the GOP’s 2012 post-mortem: swing left and get minorities on board.  As for “not that bad”, see above about why a Donald Trump presidency WOULD be that bad.  

Assessment of Hillary (and Obama)

Let me say the obvious: Never Hillary supporters don’t like Hillary.  At all.  A lot of this assessment comes from believing that anything other than immediate enactment of 100% of the Bernie Revolution is far-right conservatism.  It also comes from ignoring what Bernie himself has said throughout the campaign: that Hillary is better/further to the left on her worst/farthest right day than Trump is on his best/farthest left day.

One thing that gets me is the assessment of “Killary”: many NeverHillary supporters take it as a given that Hillary will go to war with Syria and/or Iran on the scale of Iraq, or maybe even on the scale of Vietnam.  Despite Hillary’s vote on the Iraq War, I think that this is unlikely: there are unique circumstances that contributed to Hillary’s (and Biden’s and Kerry’s) vote for Iraq, chiefly W’s immense popularity at the time, New Yorkers’ desire for retribution/blood, and the clear threat of an impending defeat to Rudy Guiliani in the next Senate election had she opposed it.   Also, I think that’s far more likely that Donald Trump will get us involved in a large-scale war as a result of his blustering, his lack of tact and, in general, his access to The Button.  

A lot of displeasure with Hillary is displeasure with “the status quo”.  That means displeasure with Obama and his center-left governance. Misplaced displeasure.  Yes, Obama didn’t get all of the Bernie revolution enacted, but he did get all the leftist policies enacted that he realistically could, especially with a hostile Congress bent on having him fail for the past 6 years.  If you wanted more leftism, you should’ve voted in the 2010 and 2014 midterms.

 Hillary is the candidate most likely to enact Bernie’s policies.  Is the likelihood 100%?  No, but the likelihood of Trump doing it is pretty near 0%, so…   And the likelihood of anybody else getting elected is 0%, which brings me to…

 Assessment of Jill Stein

A lot of Bernie supporters have pledged to vote for Jill Stein if Hillary is nominated by the Dems.

 While this may clear NeverHillary’s consciences, it’s not going to achieve anything.  No matter what Jill Stein stands for (and, yes, she DOES stand for many of the same things Bernie does).  Yet, for some reason, when I’ve mentioned that Jill Stein won’t be able to achieve anything, many NeverHillaryites don’t seem to care. Isn’t the whole point of supporting candidates to get policies enacted?  (BTW, on a side note, there are things to not like about Jill Stein’s pronouncements, chiefly her reliance on leftist conspiratorial ideas that hold little or no water).

Others have pledged to support Gary Johnson; see my previous Tumbl as to why that’s an even worse idea.

 Bottom line: there’s one way to further the Bernie legacy.  It’s the way Bernie himself is doing.  That is to vote for Hillary.

[purplebackpack89]

PBPolitix: Why Bernie Supporters SHOULD NOT Vote for Donald Trump or Gary Johnson

As you may know, I voted for Bernie Sanders in last week’s California primary.  However, I knew by then that he had already lost LEGITIMATELY to Hillary Clinton.  Then, as now, I am fully prepared to support Hillary Clinton in the general election. A lot of other Bernie supporters aren’t ready to support Hillary, though.  There are four reasons why (pay attention to these, because I’ll probably reference them in future Bernie-related posts):

1) They’re young (i.e. too young to remember Gore losing because of Nader, and way too young to remember McGovern and Mondale getting whomped for being too far to the left).

2) They're not particularly connected to the Democratic Party, even if they are leftists.  (They think BOTH parties have been bought by the 1%)

3) They REALLY hate Hillary, mostly for not being far enough to the left, being supposedly bought, and being untrustworthy (oh, and sometimes also for just being a woman).  For some of the same reasons, they also don’t like Obama, even though the reason he wasn’t more to the left was because he didn’t have control of Congress for the preponderance of his term.

4) They think Bernie's far-left policies MUST be enacted IMMEDIATELY

 Particularly worrisome are the Bernie supporters who entertain the idea of voting for Republican nominee Donald Trump or Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.  Voting for either after voting for Bernie in the primary is idiotic.  Here’s why.

Donald Trump

Yes, some Bernie supporters are considering voting for Dirty Don, the bankrupt, bigoted blowhard.

Some of it is because they see Hillary as the status quo, and they want a guy who can “shake things up”.  Shaking things up is not in itself a political philosophy, because the status quo is centrist (I’d argue center-left under Obama).  That means it can be shaken to the left (by Bernie) or to the right (by Trump).

But the main thing motivating a Trump vote is that Bernie supporters willing to vote for Trump believe that Trump is better than Hillary, or at least no worse.  The people who believe this usually ignore most policy differences between Trump and Hillary, and focus on a small handful of issues, chiefly Hillary’s past support for the Iraq War and her connections to Wall Street.  

One thing fortifying this belief is that some people maintain the fantasy that, if elected, Trump will disavow the bigoted comments he made during the primary and resort to the centrist/Bill Clintonist policies he held in the 1990s, therefore making him ideologically similar to Hillary.

I hate to break it to you, but that’s not going to happen.  Trump shows no signs at all of disregarding his pro-wall and anti-Muslim comments; he may very well try to get the wall and the Muslim ban enacted if elected.  If those fail, he will almost certainly revert to governing the way Paul Ryan and other conservatives want him to, possibly out of an ennui for the office that leaves Ryan with a free hand (and remember, if Trump is elected, he almost certainly comes to power with majorities in both houses of Congress, not leaving Dems very many avenues to stop Ryan’s agenda).   

With the general philosophy out of the way, let me delineate a number of ways Trump is fundamentally worse than Hillary:

Trump denies climate change science; Hillary accepts it

Trump will appoint one or more conservative kooks to the Supreme Court, enough to reaffirm Citizens United and perhaps enough to repeal a woman’s right to choose.  Hillary will appoint people further to the left.

Hillary has an F rating by the NRA; Trump is endorsed by them

If Trump is elected, he will sign repeal of Obamacare within his first few weeks and probably not replace it with anything.  Hillary will keep Obamacare in place.

Hillary doesn’t tweet incendiary rhetoric that can be used by ISIS to recruit Muslims to their side, or for that matter tweet anything else indicating mental instability

Hillary is far more likely to further the cause of LGBT rights than Trump is

Hillary will attempt to solve the student debt crisis; Trump has said virtually nothing about this and most likely will not

Hillary is far more likely than Trump to support a minimum wage increase

Hillary is not a misogynist.  Trump is.  You except to Trump to make any headway on the pay gap?  Or the campus rape epidemic?

And, of course, Trump wants to build a giant wall to keep out Mexican rapists, including that judge.  Hillary does not believe they are rapists and is not going to build that wall.

I could go on, but let’s move on to Gary Johnson, why don’t we?

Gary Johnson

First off, voting for ANY third party is foolish.  You know that that candidate is unlikely to win, and even more unlikely to get anything meaningful enacted.  Also, voting third-party if you’re a leftist takes half a vote away from Hillary and gives it to Trump (see above).

But a Bernie supporter flipping to Gary Johnson is particularly disingenuous.  It’s like a supporter of Karl Marx voting for his contemporary: Henry David Thoreau

Yes, Bernie and Gary agree on a very small number of issues, dovish foreign policy being one of the only ones of consequence.

However, the reason why it’s a bad idea to flip from Bernie to Gary is that they have political philosophies that are diametrically opposed.  As a socialist, Bernie fundamentally is a statist: he believes that there is a role for government, particularly big government.  

What’s the opposite of this?  No government.  Libertarianism.  Who’s the standard-bearer for that right now?  GARY JOHNSON.

Let me give quite a few concrete examples of how this philosophical difference plays out:

If you are a libertarian, you are against taxes or any other interventions to redistribute wealth from the top 1% to the bottom 99%

If you are a libertarian, you support free markets.  That means you support the free-trade aspects of NAFTA, CAFTA and TPP

It also means you’re OK with letting Wall Street/the Big Banks do whatever they want

It also means you’re opposed to any kind of environmental regulations

It also means you’re opposed to any kind of workplace regulations.  Ever heard of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire?  There will be many more of those in a purely libertarian country

It also means you’re opposed to any kind of anti-monopoly or anti-trust legislation.  Standard Oil can now corner oil and now charge consumers $15/gallon for gas

It also means you’re opposed to a minimum wage.  Moving on from the free-market aspects of libertarianism...

If you’re a libertarian, you’re OK with a psycho buying an AR-15 or AK-47

If you’re a libertarian, you don’t want the government to pay for any part of college, or for that matter, any part of education at all

If you’re a libertarian, you’re against the government providing any kind of healthcare

If you’re a libertarian, you want the federal government to sell off all the public lands it owns.  No big deal?  That means all the wonders of this country get defiled by big corporations

If you’re a libertarian, you believe in civil rights and civil liberties, but you forget that sometimes you need a government to ensure those rights and liberties (i.e. to stop the KKK).

Honestly, if you supported Bernie in the primary but support Gary now, you either didn’t really agree with Bernie’s political philosophy in the first place, or you don’t agree with Gary’s political philosophy now.

Again, you might bring up that Bernie and Gary both want to “shake things up”.  As I said in the no-to-Trump paragraphs above, that in and of itself is a poor reason to vote for somebody.  A socialist revolution is a way to “shake things up”.  So is a tactical nuclear strike.

So don’t vote for Donald Trump or Gary Johnson.  Heck, don’t vote for either of them even if you didn’t vote for Bernie in the primary.

[purplebackpack89]

PBPolitix: Donald Trump and the Silent Majority

I’ve been posting various notions on the presidential election here and there on my Facebook page.   Some of my friends suggested I start political blogging.  Lacking a more appropriate venue, I decided to start Tumbling on politics (My sports blogposts are syndicated to HappyFunTimeSports.com) Today’s topic: why Donald Trump keeps saying racist things and it doesn’t seem to hurt him that much.  

Have you ever heard about “The Silent Majority”?  The Silent Majority elected a Republican hawk (Richard Nixon) to the Presidency in both 1968 and 1972 despite millions of Americans being upset at what was going on in Vietnam.

Though the people who made that happen in 1972 are less of a percentage of the population today, if Donald Trump is elected, he will be elected on their backs.  And all the waving of Mexican flags and chanting of La Raza and throwing eggs at Trump supporters won’t have stopped them.

Let’s profile the Silent Majority.

They’re a little bit racist:  Look, we know that the David Dukes and George Zimmermanns of this country are voting Trump.  We also know that those hardcore or militant racists most certainly represent a minority of American society.  But there are more people in society who, while not card-carrying KKK members who would shoot the nearest black person on sight, are, shall we say, “uncomfortable” are people from other races.  While they might not use racist or politically incorrect terminology, it doesn’t bother them that much that Donald Trump does.  WHAT does get their panties in a wad is people waving Mexican flags.  Or speaking Spanish (or Chinese or Korean or any other language that’s not English).  Or dressing in any way but the way you would at the Country Club.  Or listening to any rap music.  Or (and this is that most important one) being the least bit violent or confrontational to white people.  But  don’t tell that they’re a bit racist; they’ll deny it and point to their one good friendship with an African-American or Hispanic.

They’re also a bit misogynist: The men in the Silent Majority believe that the women need protection; the women in the Silent Majority want to be protected.  The remnants of the Cult of Domesticity (read: the Battleship game box where the men are playing Battleship while the women do the dishes) exist in the Silent Majority.

They’re really, really concerned about crime...and this is an extension of the misogynist angle.  Have you ever noticed that all the crime bills are named after white women (Amber’s Law, Jessica’s Law, etc).  The Silent Majority wants to keep white women safe...and that includes from African-Americans and Hispanics.  

They live in “safe”, self-segregated suburban neighborhoods:  After how I’ve described these people, you really expect them to live in the inner city?   Many of them live in exclusive gated communities and make sure their kids attend the “best” schools (Read: none of that gang-banging riffraff).  BTW, if you want a description of how the Silent Majority feels about crime and suburban living, read the “Fortress L.A.” chapter of the Book City of Quartz.

They don’t care about means in foreign policy:  That means that they tend to be hawks rather than doves.  Deaths, mutilation or torture of foreign nationals mean nothing to them if they protect America’s security.

Unbearable lightness; prodigious fear: In case it wasn’t clear, the Silent Majority is almost entirely white.  And really, really afraid of just about EVERYTHING.  Did I mention how afraid they were of AIDS in the 1980s?  Or of anthrax?  Or Ebola?  Or Zika?  The GOP won the Senate in 2014 because of the Silent Majority’s fears about Ebola.

Oh, and they vote

One last aside: I most certainly am NOT a member of Silent Majority

What you can do about it:  Don’t play to their fears.  If you want to protest Trump without offending these people, don’t wave Mexican flags, don’t chant in Spanish, and for the love of God, protest non-violently.  The proper way to protest Trump is to show that you’re as good an American as he and his supporters are.

Thoughts?

[purplebackpack89]

Sources for 50-Point Game Sporcle

NBA All-Time 50-Point Game Scorers

Career 30, 40, 50, 60 point games in NBA History - Sports and Racing - NBA Message Board - GameFAQs

The NBA’s Active 50-Point Scorers 

NBA Best Performances - 2015-2016 - National Basketball Association - ESPN

[purplebackpack89]

[purplebackpack89]

Who Should REALLY be in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game

Two years ago, I’d have responded to the Kansas City All-Star voting crisis with a Bleacher Report article.  I don’t write for them anymore, so I’ll Tumbl about it.

Rules

I don’t give a Peking Duck about who’s leading the voting.  Talent only.  (My apologies to the City of Fountains).

I WILL adhere to the at-least-one-All-Star-per-team ruling

I will allocate the 34 man roster as follows:

Starting batters at each of the nine positions, including DH

Reserves at each of those nine positions.

A third catcher and two additional batters, one of whom is the "34th man”

Eight starting pitchers (one starts and is listed with the starers, others are used later and are listed with the pitchers)

Five relievers, including at least one middle reliever.

AL Starters

C Stephen Vogt, OAK (.279 BA, .894 OPS, 31 R, 12 HR, 47 RBI, 0 SB, 2.6 WAR)

1B Miguel Cabrera, DET (.342 BA, 1.044 OPS, 38 R, 15 HR, 51 RBI, 1 SB, 3.4 WAR)

2B Jason Kipnis, CLE (.335 BA, .911 OPS, 45 R, 5 HR, 28 RBI, 10 SB, 3.9 WAR)

3B Josh Donaldson, TOR (.307 BA, .923 OPS, 55 R, 17 HR, 46 RBI, 3 SB, 4.0 WAR)

SS Xander Bogaerts, BOS (.287 ABA, .718 OPS, 27 R, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 4 SB, 1.7 WAR)

OF Mike Trout, LAA (.300 BA, .966 OPS, 49 R, 18 HR, 40 RBI, 8 SB, 4.0 WAR)

OF Nelson Cruz, SEA (.309 BA, .932 OPS, 34 R, 18 HR, 41 RBI, 1 SB, 2.4 WAR)

OF Yoenis Cespedes, DET (.302 BA, .827 OPS, 36 R, 9 HR, 35 RBI, 3 SB, 2.7 WAR)

DH Prince Fielder, TEX (.344 BA, .933 OPS, 34 R, 11 HR, 47 RBI, 0 SB, 1.5 WAR)

SP Sonny Gray, OAK (8-3, 11 QS, 1.60 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 88 K, .499 OPSA, 4.2 WAR)

AL Reserves

C Salvador Perez, KC (.284 AVG, .758 OPS, 20 R, 10 HR, 29 RBI, 1 SB, 1.8 WAR)

C Russell Martin, TOR (.277 BA, .857 OPS, 41 R, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 3 SB, 2.5 WAR)

1B Albert Pujols, LAA (.270 BA, .868 OPS, 38 R, 19 HR, 37 RBI, 10 SB, 1.9 WAR)

2B Brian Dozier, MIN (.260 BA, .868 OPS, 52 R, 13 HR, 32 RBI, 4 SB, 2.7 WAR)

3B Manny Machado, BAL (.289 BA, .856 OPS, 43 R, 14 HR, 34 RBI, 10 SB, 3.3 WAR)

SS Marcus Semien, OAK (.272 BA, .737 OPS, 30 R, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 7 SB, 1.0 WAR)

OF Lorenzo Cain, KC (.292 BA, .785 OPS, 40 R, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 11 SB, 3.6 WAR)

OF Adam Jones, BAL (.301 AVG, .836 OPS, 35 R, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 3 SB, 2.3 WAR)

OF Josh Reddick, OAK (.297 BA, .859 OPS, 32 R, 10 HR, 41 RBI, 3 SB, 2.3 WAR)

DH Jose Bautista, TOR (.252 BA, .913 OPS, 44 R, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 3 SB, 2.4 WAR)

33 (1B) Mark Teixeira, NYY (.252 BA, .934 OPS, 33 R, 18 HR, 48 RBI, 1 SB, 2.3 WAR)

34 (2B) Jose Altuve, HOU (.287 BA, .718 OPS, 28 R, 5 HR, 28 RBI, 17 SB, 1.6 WAR)

AL Pitchers

SP-2 Dallas Keuchel, HOU (8-2, 11 QS, 2.04 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 76 K, .497 OPSA, 3.7 WAR)

SP-3 Chris Archer, TB (8-4, 9 QS, 2.18 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 116 K, .537 OPSA, 3.0 WAR)

SP-4 Chris Sale, CHW (6-3, 10 QS, 3.01 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 105 K, .591 OPSA, 2.2 WAR)

SP-5 Felix Hernandez, SEA (10-3, 10 QS, 3.08 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 87 K, .603 OPSA, 2.1 WAR)

SP-6 Jake Odorizzi, TB (4-5, 9 QS, 2.47 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 63 K, .611 OPSA, 2.3 WAR)

SP-7 David Price, DET (6-2, 10 QS, 2.50 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 88 K, .630 OPSA, 1.8 WAR)

SP-8 Jesse Chavez, OAK (3-6, 8 QS, 2.52 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 70 K, .593 OPSA, 2.2 WAR)

MR Wade Davis, KC (3-1, 8 SV, 7 HLD, 0.31 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 9.9 K/9, .383 OPSA, 1.6 WAR)

CL/MR Dellin Betances, NYY (4-0, 4 SV, 11 HLD, 0.26 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 14.7 K/9, .323 OPSA, 2.1 WAR)

CL-1 Glen Perkins, MIN (0-1, 23 SV, 1.53 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, .540 OPSA, 1.6 WAR)

CL-2 Zach Britton, BAL (0-0, 18 SV, 1.63 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 11.4 K/9, .532 OPSA, 1.1 WAR)

CL-3 Huston Street, LAA (2-2, 20 SV, 2.33 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, .491 OPSA, 0.8 WAR)

NL Starters

C Buster Posey, SF (.289 BA, .813 OPS, 30 R, 9 HR, 36 RBI, 0 SB, 2.7 WAR)

1B Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (.357 BA, 1.142 OPS, 50 R, 19 HR, 54 RBI, 10 SB, 4.9 WAR)

2B Dee Gordon, MIA (.356 BA, .802 OPS, 36 R, 0 HR, 17 RBI, 22 SB, 3.3 WAR)

3B Todd Frazier, CIN (.294 BA, 1.000 OPS, 48 R, 22 HR, 46 RBI, 8 SB, 3.7 WAR)

SS Jhonny Peralta, STL (.306 BA, .859 OPS, 30 R, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 1 SB, 2.4 WAR)

OF Bryce Harper, WSH (.344 BA, 1.197 OPS, 49 R, 22 HR, 53 RBI, 3 SB, 5.2 WAR)

OF Giancarlo Stanton, MIA (,265 BA, .965 OPS, 44 R, 25 HR, 63 RBI, 4 SB, 3.5 WAR)

OF A.J. Pollock, ARI (.306 BA, .780 OPS, 43 R, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 14 SB, 3.1 WAR)

DH (1B) Anthony Rizzo, CHC (.301 BA, .971 OPS, 37 R, 12 HR, 39 RBI, 10 SB, 2.8 WAR)

SP Max Scherzer, WSH (7-5, 10 QS, 1.93 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 113 K, .525 OPSA, 3.6 WAR)

NL Reserves

C Derek Norris, SD (.260 BA, .751 OPS, 35 R, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 1 SB, 2.0 WAR)

C Francisco Cervelli, PIT (.316 BA, .804 OPS, 19 R, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 1 SB, 1.4 WAR)

1B Joey Votto, CIN (.298 BA, .947 OPS, 34 R, 14 HR, 36 RBI, 5 SB, 2.7 WAR)

2B Joe Panik, SF (.309 BA, .838 OPS, 34 R, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 2 SB, 2.3 WAR)

3B Nolan Arenado, COL (.278 BA, .862 OPS, 35 R, 16 HR, 51 RBI, 0 SB, 2.9 WAR)

SS Brandon Crawford, SF (.277 BA, .817 OPS, 32 R, 9 HR, 40 RBI, 3 SB, 2.9 WAR)

OF Joc Pederson, LAD (.249 BA, .917 OPS, 36 R, 17 HR, 33 RBI, 2 SB, 3.0 WAR)

OF Andrew McCutchen, PIT (.294 BA, .854 OPS, 36 R, 8 HR, 42 RBI, 3 SB, 2.2 WAR)

OF Justin Upton, SD (.275 BA, .826 OPS, 41 R, 13 HR, 42 RBI, 14 SB, 2.2 WAR)

DH (1B) Adrian Gonzalez, LAD (.295 BA, .894 OPS, 37 R, 11 HR, 43 RBI, 0 SB, 2.2 WAR)

33 (OF) Starling Marte, PIT (.285 BA, .815 OPS, 37 R, 12 HR, 45 RBI, 13 SB, 1.8 WAR)

34 (PR) Billy Hamilton, CIN (.221 BA, .567 OPS, 31 R, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 31 SB, 0.5 WAR)

NL Pitchers

SP-2 Zack Greinke, LAD (5-2, 13 QS, 1.81 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 83 K, .563 OPSA, 3.4 WAR)

SP-3 Gerrit Cole, PIT (11-2, 12 QS, 1.78 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 97 K, .583 OPSA, 2.5 WAR)

SP-4 Cole Hamels, PHI (5-5, 10 QS, 2.96 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 103 K, .629 OPSA, 2.8 WAR)

SP-5 Jacob deGrom, NYM (7-4, 10 QS, 2.33 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 90 K, .562 OPSA, 2.4 WAR)

SP-6 Shelby Miller, ATL (5-2, 10 QS, 1.99 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 65 K, .570 OPSA, 3.0 WAR)

SP-7 A.J. Burnett, PIT (6-2, 10 QS, 1.89 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 74 K, .592 OPSA, 2.7 WAR)

SP-8 Clayton Kershaw, LAD (5-4, 11 QS, 3.29 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 122 K, .616 OPSA, 1.2 WAR)

MR J.P Howell, LAD (2-1, 4 HLD, 0.45 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, .514 OPSA, 0.9 WAR)

CL-1 Trevor Rosenthal, STL (1-0, 21 SV, 0.59 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, .453 OPSA, 1.8 WAR)

CL-2 Mark Melancon, PIT (0-1, 23 SV, 1.87 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, .473 OPSA, 0.9 WAR)

CL-3 Francisco Rodriguez, MIL (0-2, 13 SV, 1.13 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, .446 OPSA, 1.4 WAR)

CL-4 Jeurys Familia, NYM (2-0, 19 SV, 1 HLD, 1.39 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, OPSA, 1.4 WAR)

[purplebackpack89]

This Bleacher Report article posited what a college football tournament would look like.  I thought he didn’t do a good job.  The 14, 15, and 16 teams were 6-6 majors, when they shoulda been FCS schools.  He also needed play-in games, and he needed to rank them pre-bowls rather than post-bowls.  Oh, and he forgot the pod system.

I give you my bracket.

[purplebackpack89]

All-NBA Team Predictions, Updated

3rd Team

F Tim Duncan, SA F Gordon Hayward, UTA C Al Horford, ATL G John Wall, WAS G Jimmy Butler, CHI

2nd Team

F LaMarcus Aldridge, POR

F Pau Gasol, CHI

C DaMarcus Cousins, SAC

G Russell Westbrook, OKC

G Chris Paul, LAC

1st Team

F Anthony Davis, NO

F LeBron James, CLE C Marc Gasol, MEM

G Steph Curry, GS G James Harden, HOU

[purplebackpack89]

2015 Oscar Picks: The Quest for a Perfect Fail

In Southern California, people have a habit of making Oscar predictions. I have seen TWO films all year: Unbroken and X-Men. So I've decided to go for the perfect fail.

My strategy: 1. Never pick anything that won a SAG Award or a Golden Globe 2 Pick against the LA Times 3. Avoid picking Boyhood, Birdman or Grand Budapest whenever possible 4. Pick Benedict Cumberbatch as often as possible 5. Pick a lot of white, straight, able-bodied men 6. The Imitation Game and Unbroken (one I’ve seen and one I’d really like to) have both been nominated for a lot of Oscars nobody expects them to win. So I’ll pick them for everything.

My picks:

Best Picture: The Imitation Game Best Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch Best Supporting Actor: Robert Duvall (or Benedict Cumberbatch) Best Actress: Marion Cotilliard (or Benedict Cumberbatch) Best Supporting Actress: Keira Knightly (or Benedict Cumberbatch) Best Director: Morten Tyldum (or Benedict Cumberbatch) Best Original Screenplay: Nightcrawler Best Adapted Screenplay: Inherent Vice Animated Feature: Big Hero 6 Cinematography: Unbroken Costume Design: Mr. Turner Doc Feature: Salt of the Earth Editing: The Imitation Game Foreign Feature: Tangerines Makeup: Guardians of the Galaxy Song: Grateful (almost picked Lorde for this, but she fortunately wasn’t nominated) Score: The Imitation Game Production Design: Interstellar (BTW, WTF is this category?) Sound Editing: Unbroken Sound Mixing: Unbroken Visual Effects: X-Men (the only film I’ve seen this year besides Unbroken, and it was BAD) Animated Short: Me and My Moulton Doc Short: Our Curse Live-Action Short: Parveneh (much as I’d like to pick Boogaloo, it won a BAFTA, so it might win)

[purplebackpack89]

My Picks for All-NBA Thus Far

Third Team

F Carmelo Anthony, NY F Paul Millsap, ATL

C DeAndre Jordan, LAC

G Jimmy Butler, CHI G Damien Lillard, POR 

SecondTeam

F LaMarcus Aldridge, POR

F Blake Griffin, LAC

C DaMarcus Cousins, SAC

G Chris Paul, LAC

G John Wall, WAS

First Team

F Anthony Davis, NOH

F LeBron James, CLE

C Marc Gasol, MEM

G Steph Curry, GSW

G James Harden, HOU

[themeedes]

Liberté, Égalité, Dessiner.

[purplebackpack89]

Charles Bennett's 100 Greatest NBA Players: Number 1

Click here for Methodology, Also-Rans, 100-96, 95-86, 85-76, 75-71, 70-66, 65-61, 60-56, 55-51, 50-46, 45-41, 40-36, 35-31, 30-26, 25-23, 22-20, 19-17, 16-14, 13-11, 10-8, 7-5 and 4-2

1.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, C, 1969-1989 (322.83)

Stats: 38387 PTS, 174400 REB, 5660 AST, 24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG, 273.4 WS, 24.6 PER

Hardware: 6 MVP, 6 Championships, 2 Finals MVP, ROY, 19 ASG, 15 All-NBA, 11 All-Defensive, 35th Anniversary Team, 50th Anniversary Team

If you had to pick a single metric to determine the greatest NBA player ever, the player who scored the most points all-time would be a good metric.  So would the player with the most win shares.  So would the player with the most MVPs.

Kareem is the all-time leader in all three categories.

Kareem played in twenty NBA seasons.  That’s a whole lotta skyhooks.  In his first eight seasons, Kareem was the MVP five times.  He finished in the top five in MVP voting in each of his first 12 seasons, and 15 of his first 17.  In other words, Kareem has more top 5 MVP finishes than most NBA players have seasons.  

He won a championship in his second season, and a championship in his second-to-last season, and four more in between.  He played in 10 NBA Finals.  

Besides being the only player to score over 35,000 points, Kareem is second in playoff points.  He is third all-time in rebounds and third all-time in blocks.  Kareem won two scoring titles, a rebounding title, and four blocks titles.  He had one of the five highest point totals in 10 of his first 12 seasons.

During his career, Kareem proved that it was possible to be a great center with finesse, rather than brute force, as with Chamberlain before him and Shaq after.

Being able to produce 20 highly-productive seasons is a feat in itself, but Kareem also has some pretty good career averages: he is 15th all-time in points per game, eighth in blocks per game, and 22nd in rebounds per game.

Here is the full list:

100. James Worthy

99. Lenny Wilkens

98. Chauncey Billups

97. Dave DeBusschere

96. Marques Johnson

95. Chris Mullin

94. Shawn Marion

93. Dennis Johnson

92. Sidney Moncrief

91. Kevin Johnson

90. Nate Thurmond

89. Jack Sikma

88. Pete Maravich

87. Reggie Miller

86. Mitch Richmond

85. Chris Bosh

84. Wes Unseld

83. Tim Hardaway

82. Vern Mikkelsen

81. Dave Bing

80. Vince Carter

79. Amare Stoudemire

78. Ed Macauley

77. Bailey Howell

76. Alonzo Mourning

75. Bob Lanier

74. Pau Gasol

73. Bernard King

72. Walt Bellamy

71. George McGinnis

70. Kevin McHale

69. Grant Hill

68. Adrian Dantley

67. Spencer Haywood

66. Tony Parker

66. Tony Parker

65. Alex English

64. Ray Allen

63. Nate Archibald

62. Carmelo Anthony

61. Chris Webber

60. Dan Issel

59. Hal Greer

58. Bill Sharman

57. Neil Johnston

56. Tom Heinsohn

55. Paul Pierce

54. Billy Cunningham

53. Dave Cowens

52. Paul Arizin

51. Tracy McGrady

50. Jerry Lucas

49. Bob McAdoo

48. Walt Frazier

47. Sam Jones

46. Robert Parish

45. Artis Gilmore

44. Isiah Thomas

43. Chris Paul

42. Clyde Drexler

41. Willis Reed

40. Dwight Howard

39. Dominique Wilkins

38. Gary Payton

37. Steve Nash

36. Dwyane Wade

35. Jason Kidd

34. George Gervin

33. John Stockton

32. Kevin Durant

31. Allen Iverson

30. Scottie Pippen

29. Patrick Ewing

28. Elvin Hayes

27. Rick Barry

26. Dolph Schayes

25. George Mikan

24. Dirk Nowitzki

23. Bob Cousy

22. John Havlicek

21. David Robinson

20. Elgin Baylor

19. Charles Barkley

18. Kevin Garnett

17. Moses Malone

16. Julius Erving

15. Hakeem Olajuwon

14. Jerry West

13. Bob Pettit

12. Oscar Robertson

11. Magic Johnson

10. Larry Bird

9. LeBron James

8. Shaquille O’Neal

7. Tim Duncan

6. Bill Russell

5. Kobe Bryant

4. Karl Malone

3. Wilt Chamberlain

2. Michael Jordan

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[purplebackpack89]

Charles Bennett's 100 Greatest NBA Players: 4, 3, 2

Click here for Methodology, Also-Rans, 100-96, 95-86, 85-76, 75-71, 70-66, 65-61, 60-56, 55-51, 50-46, 45-41, 40-36, 35-31, 30-26, 25-23, 22-20, 19-17, 16-14, 13-11, 10-8, 7-5  

4. Karl Malone, PF, 1985-2004 (262.09)

Stats: 36928 PTS, 14968 REB, 5238 AST, 25.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.5 APG, 234.6 WS, 23.9 PER

Hardware: 2 MVPs, 14 ASG, 2 ASG MVP, 14 All-NBA, 50th Anniversary Team

This an unconventional pick.  Almost nobody has the player who has scored the second-most points in NBA history in their top 5, many have him out of the Top 10 and quite a few have him behind Tim Duncan in the race for the greatest power forward of all time.

People forget how much of a model of consistency Malone was.  He appeared in at least 80 games in every season but the lockout season and his final season.  He averaged 20 points a night for 17 consecutive seasons.  He finished in the top 5 in both win shares and player efficiency rating for 13 consecutive seasons between 1988 and 2001, and in the top five in points per game for each of those seasons but 2000-2001.  Though he never won a scoring title, he was second in points per game on four occasions, and second in total points on eight occasions.  

He was one of five players (Kareem, Kobe, Shaq and Duncan) to be All-NBA at least 14 times.  Only he made every All-NBA First Team between 1989 and 1999 (and remember, this was a time when his competition included Bird, Barkley, Pippen, Duncan, Hill, Webber and Mullin).  He played in every All-Star Game between 1988 and 2002 (time off for the lockout).

Nobody in NBA history has sunk more free throws than Malone. Malone is 3rd all-time in win shares, 6th in rebounds, 13th in scoring average, and 15th all-time in player efficiency rating.  He is first or second among Jazz players in every one of those stats.

Malone won the MVP twice, in 1997 and 1999.  Some say those MVPs weren’t deserved, others say he should’ve won the 1998 MVP.

Malone played in 19 consecutive postseasons (18 of them alongside Stockton); he is currently 6th all-time in playoff points and 6th all-time in playoff rebounds.

3. Wilt Chamberlain, C, 1959-73 (275.92)

Stats: 31419 PTS, 23924 REB, 4643 AST, 30.1 PPG, 22.9 RPG, 4.4 APG, 247.3 WS, 26.1 PER

Hardware: 4 MVPs, ROY, 1 Finals MVP, 2 Championships, 13 ASG, 1 ASG MVP, 10 All-NBA, 2 All-Defensive, 35th Anniversary Team, 50th Anniversary Team

Do you have an hour for me to explain Wilt Chamberlain’s dominance?

64 times in the history of the NBA has a player scored 60 or more points in the history of the NBA.  Exactly half of those times, the player was Wilt Chamberlain.  One of those games occurred on March 2, 1962, when he hit 36 field goals and 28 free throws for 100 points.

During the 1961-62 campaign, he averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds while tallying a player efficiency rating of 31.7.

Chamberlain won seven straight scoring titles between 1960 and 1966, and finished first or second in rebounds in 13 of his 14 NBA seasons. Chamberlain pulled down more rebounds than anybody in the history of the NBA, and holds the NBA’s record for most rebounds in a game (55).

After being traded from the Warriors (where he is still their leading scorer despite only playing five-and-one-half seasons for them), Wilt became a team player, winning championships with Hal Greer and Jerry West.  

During this period, Chamberlain recorded a season with more assists than anybody else in the NBA.  In his final season with the Lakers, Chamberlain set a single-season field goal percentage record with .727. 

2. Michael Jordan, SG, 1984-93, 1995-98, 2001-03 (307.9)

Stats: 32292 PTS, 6672 REB, 5633 AST, 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 214 WS, 27.9 PER

Hardware: 5 MVPs, 6 Championships, 6 Finals MVPs, 1 DPOY, 9 All-Defensive, 14 ASG, 3 ASG MVP, 11 All-NBA, 50th Anniversary Team

For a generation, Jordan has been hyped and heralded as the greatest basketball player ever (so much so that a book I read written during his first retirement goes to great lengths to tear him down, comparing him unfavorably to Wilt and poo-pooing his competition).   He is noted for flashy dunks, many courtesy of the “Jordan Rules”.

Jordan is one of two players (Chamberlain is the other) to score 3,000 points in a season, and Jordan just edges out Wilt for the highest career scoring average among NBA players.  He led the NBA in scoring in ten different seasons.   Only Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have amassed more career points, and that because of much longer careers.

He has the highest player efficiency rating of any player in the history of the NBA, including having four seasons with a PER of 30 or better.

Jordan was also a halfway decent perimeter defender: he made nine All-Defensive Teams and is third all-time in career steals.

And let’s not forget championships: Jordan won six of them, one of them on a team that amassed 72 wins.  Jordan holds the record for most playoff points (5762) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.4).  He also holds the record for most points in a playoff game, 63, and has had more 50-point games than anybody else in NBA history.

[purplebackpack89]

Charles Bennett's 100 Greatest NBA Players: 7, 6, 5

Click here for Methodology, Also-Rans, 100-96, 95-86, 85-76, 75-71, 70-66, 65-61, 60-56, 55-51, 50-46, 45-41, 40-36, 35-31, 30-26, 25-23, 22-20, 19-17, 16-14, 13-11 and 10-8  

7. Tim Duncan, F/C, 1997-present (256.85)

Stats: 24904 PTS, 19340 REB, 3832 AST, 19.9 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 191.6 WS, `24.2 PER

Hardware: 2 MVP, 5 Championships, 3 Finals MVP, ROY, 14 ASG, 1 ASG MVP, 14 All-NBA, 14 All-Defensive

If it’s flashy fast breaks or spectacular dunks you want, Tim Duncan is not for you.  However, Duncan is the man you want if getting it done year after year after year is your aim.

Duncan finished in the top 5 in total rebounds in his first 12 seasons, and in the top 5 in points twice.  Duncan is the Spurs’ all-time leader in both categories, and ranks in the top 20 all-time in both categories.  Only Kareem can best Duncan’s quadruple hash of 19.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.2 blocks.

Duncan won two MVPs, was the runner-up twice more, and made the All-NBA First Team in his first eight seasons.

Tim Duncan is also one of the greatest defensive players of all time.  Only Bill Russell has more career win shares, only six players have more blocks.  He made the All-Defensive Team in his first thirteen seasons.

And Duncan can win: he has five titles and three Bill Russell Trophies.  He’s sixth in all-time win shares, and second in playoff win shares.  The San Antonio Spurs have never missed the playoffs with Duncan on their roster; in every year but the lockout, they had 50 wins (that’s more 50-win seasons than anybody but the Lakers, Celtics or Suns).

  6.  Bill Russell, C, 1956-69 (260.69)

Stats: 14522 PTS, 21620 REB, 4100 AST, 15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 163.5 WS, 18.9 PER

Hardware: 5 MVPs, 11 Championships, 12 ASG, 1 ASG MVP, 11 All-NBA, 25th Anniversary Team, 35th Anniversary Team, 50th Anniversary Team

Let me preface the top 6 by noting that the margin between 6th and 4th is 1.5 points, within the margin of error.

That said, how did somebody make it into the top 10 despite never averaging having a season averaging more than 20 points per game, having a Player Efficiency Rating below the average for the list, and only making three All-NBA First Teams?  After all, as Russell himself said, “This game has always been, and will always be, about buckets”.

Well, he was pretty much the greatest defensive player in the history of the game.  He is second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per games.  Had blocked shots been tracked in his day, he would unquestionably be the leader all-time in that category, both career and per-game.  

Had All-Defensive awards been given out during Russell’s tenure, it’s likely Russell would have made All-D 11 or 12 times and won at least six DPOYs.

Russell’s career roughly coincided with the Civil Rights era, and he was the first in a long line of great African-American NBA superstars, and one of the first in the NBA to speak out against racial injustices.

Oh, and he won 11 titles in 13 seasons as the lynchpin of the greatest dynasty in NBA history.  It’s also likely he would have won five or six Finals MVPs had those been given out prior to his final season.

  5. Kobe Bryant, SG, 1996-present (261.51)

Stats: 31700 PTS, 6601 REB, 5925 AST, 25.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.8 APG, 173 WS, 23.4 PER

Hardware: 5 Championships, 2 Finals MVP, 1 MVP, 16 ASG, 4 ASG MVP, 15 All-NBA, 12 All-Defensive

It’s unlikely that any player has played with such tenacity and will to win, particularly under the strain of numerous injuries, as has Kobe Bryant.  Kobe is someone who picked up his team and carried in on his shoulders, not just for a season or two, but for more than a decade.

Bryant has arguably done more in the 21st century than any other NBA player, winning five championships and making 11 All-NBA First Teams between 2002 and 2013.   No player has been named to more All-NBA Teams or more All-NBA First Teams than Bryant.  A solid defender, Bryant also made a dozen All-Defensive Teams.

Bryant is one of only two NBA players (Wilt is the other) to score 80 points in an NBA game.  He won two scoring titles (including posting a 35.4 points-a-night clip in 2005-06), finished in the top five 11 straight times between 2003 and 2013, and is currently fourth on the NBA career scoring list.

Kobe is one of three players (Jordan and Kareem) with more than 5500 career playoff points, which he accumulated en route to five NBA titles.  He has scored more points in a Laker uniform than anyone else...by a margin of 6,000.