Yes, we’re in Miami. But there’s no need to hate. It’s overcast and muggy. A Heat PR guy met us with the teasing accusation that we brought the “doom and gloom” weather down with us.
That was moments before they kicked us out of the hallway for loitering outside of the Heat locker room, where the walls are covered with life-sized photos of stars from various parts of the entertainment industry. I’m telling you, if no one was looking, Mariah Carey was going home with me.
* * *
No word on Jerome James, but he was putting in extra work at the end of the shoot-around, which suggests he’s close. Shaq’s availability for tonight is unknown – he has a bruise and a hyperextension of his knee – but if he does play, having the 7-1, 280-pound James and his six fouls will help Eddy Curry.
It has to be said that for a 23-year-old, Eddy Curry handles the media as well as any young man can handle it. He must know how often the scribes pan the trade that brought him here from Chicago. Or how often his play is criticized. But Eddy is always cordial and tries to offer thoughtful replies. After getting dominated by Yao Ming last week in Houston, Curry was front-and-center and offering respect to Yao. You have to appreciate a young player for having the maturity to handle these kinds of moments.
After the shoot-around, Curry was asked for a second straight day about Shaq, whom Curry was compared to early on in his career. Curry smiled and, again, spoke respectfully about The Diesel. And when one of us tried to toss in the notion that Shaq might be slowing down, Curry shook his head and didn’t take the bait.
Nearby, David Lee overheard it and jumped to his teammate’s defense.
“Look at you trying to set my man up,” Lee said.
Curry is smarter than that.
“You get stronger as you get older,” he replied.
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Speaking of Lee, I read somewhere that he kind of liked the Knickname, “The Hard Core,” suggested as a label for the Knicks energizing bench players. It’s not a bad idea, but maybe we can come up with something better than that.
Plus, the Hard Core should actually be “The Hard Corps,” as in military reference.
How about a rip-off from that Golden State Warriors nickname from the past?
"Run-D.N.C." (David, Nate and Crawford).
Well I stomp and chomp, all competition
Make break and take you cold on a mission
Raise hell, excel, and tell you who's winning
I'm boss, you lost, before the game, first inning
-- "They Call Us Run-D.M.C."
OK, enough of that.
I’m done like my lunch from Miami Subs.
Comments (2)
HOW ABOUT "DIAMOND" DAVID LEE??? SOUNDS LIKE A PREETTY GOOD NICKNAME FOR A GUY WHOSE ON A TEAM OF MILLIONAIRES BUT REALLY PLAYS LIKE THE DIAMONDS HIS TEAMMATES WEAR AROUND THEIR NECKS
But that's not what you said, that's not what you said.
I'm going to get the papers, get the papers.