Over the past couple of weeks, a zit has popped up in the middle of the NBA's forehead. The ugly whitehead protruded to the surface after last month's "Throwdown in Motown," or one of the many euphemisms to describe the Pacers/Pistons/fan debacle.
Now comes word that Latrell Sprewell, who's already in mid-season disgruntled mode, yelled obscenities at a female fan who apparently got under his skin.
This has the NBA scrambling to repair its tattered image, which is too bad. As we're almost a quarter of the way through the season, a couple of teams are making the league's more powerful conference look like a jumbled free-for-all.
It's been a while since the Desert Southwest and Pacific Northwest have shown consistently winning attitudes on the court. But that seems to be the case in Phoenix and Seattle. Entering Thursday, the Suns and Sonics, both at 16-3, are tied for the Association's best record. And both teams seem to use the youth movement to help their outright fullest.
The squad from the Valley of the Sun is performing well thanks to a trio the city hasn't seen since the days of Kevin Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Dan Majerle. However, unlike the 1992 Finals team,
two-thirds of this bunch resides in the lane.
The return of Steve Nash has supposedly brought the talent level and chemistry to a higher plane. The Canadian's 10-plus assists per game has given his teammates plenty of good opportunities to score. Add in Shawn Marion and his 12.3 boards for some Barkley-esque prowess on the glass.
Then you have Amare Stoudemire. The '02-'03 Rookie of the Year has averaged 26 points a contest to lead a team with five double-digit scorers (Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson round out the list). This on a team where only Nash, Marion, and Bo Outlaw have more than four years of NBA experience.
Under the watchful eye of the Space Needle, a healthy Ray Allen is leading a youthful band of scoundrels to the top of the Northwest Division. Allen and Rashard Lewis both average 20-plus points a game. Second-year guard Luke Ridnour takes the controls at point, with former Iowa Hawkeye Reggie Evans cleaning the boards down low.
The Sonics' success (or boom, if you will) has come from behind the arc. Seattle leads the league in both three-point makes and percentage, proving that more than water can rain on the city (ooh, was that cheesy). And with their oldest player being a 30-year-old rookie, Seattle now finds themselves with young depth. Hey, when you can bring Nick Collison, toughman Danny Fortson, and Vladimir Radmanovic off the bench, things must be going well.
The question is, can these two teams sustain their hot starts over the long season? Both made a statement towards the affirmative with Wednesday night road victories. The Sonics gave the Spurs their first loss of the year in the Alamodome, while Phoenix rallied from 13 down to beat Kobe Bryant's Lakers.
With very young rosters (Seattle is eighth youngest, Phoenix is number one) and fresh attitudes, these two teams should provide for a nice shake-up to the sustained season ahead. Of course, anything's possible at the beginning of the year. How else could you explain a 10-5 Wizards team?
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