The Sport Report

While LeBron James may have taken all relevant comparisons to Michael Jordan off the table with his most recent change in employer and area code, Wade’s Pippen is already seeing his team linked to the Bulls era. Jeff Van Gundy made headlines when boldly forecast the heat can win 73 games this season. 73 is a number in basketball much like 62 used to be in baseball, perhaps more accurately compared to the Dolphins’ 19-0 undefeated season in 1972. Quite simply, 72 regular season wins, a feat accomplished by the ’95-’96 Bulls then followed by an NBA Championship, is the closest any team has ever come to perfection, 73 would be one better. Most fans, players and analysts believe the number to be nearly untouchable, after all, the ’71-’72 Lakers’ 69-win total was already an intimidating mark (1972 sure was an impressive year for sports). Losing only 10 games over the course of an 82 game schedule is no small feat, arguably equally impressive to that of going undefeated in the much shorter football season. In 2007, the Patriots managed to match the Dolphins’ unscathed regular season mark (16-0) but fell victim to the Giants in the Super Bowl. (more…)

Come March it appears as if the NBA will be taking its talents to foggy London town. Not nearly as heartbreaking to fans in America as perhaps the last time that phrase was used to describe a newsworthy basketball relocation, if only because the NBA’s stint in the UK will last for merely 2 games. On March 4^th and 5^th the Toronto Raptors will square off against the New Jersey Nets in the city’s O2 Arena. This will mark the first two regular season contests to cross the pond, though not the first time the NBA has held games in England, or even O2 Arena for that matter. London has played host to NBA exhibition games for several seasons now, but in 2011, NBA Commissioner David Stern and his team of higher ups decided the time is right to up the ante. (more…)