Spent the turning of the New Year in New York this week. Got to the Garden 24 hours early for some extra preparation and ran into some rock and roll -- Phish! Those guys are not messing around. They had us all Wading in a Velvet Sea, to say nothing about bouncing around the room.
Inspired by the brilliance of Trey, John, Mike and Page, I came immediately to Steinway Hall to put it all together. And the wheel just keeps turning:
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| Steve Nash makes beautiful music, at least to the ears of Bill Walton. |
Bach -- the foundation: Michael Jordan
Mozart -- the bouncy creativity: Steve Nash
Beethoven -- crashing thunder: Shaquille O'Neal
Tchaikovsky -- the melodies: Kobe Bryant
Schubert, Liszt: Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki
Chopin/Rachmaninoff: John Stockton and Scottie Pippen.
It all runs together and it won't slow down … I can't hold on:
With the Knicks actually playing some decent ball right now, people in New York are not so focused on the arrival of LeBron James as they are wondering whatever happened to George Bush's promise of that $16 billion.
Out with the old, in with the new: What number rebuilding plan are the Chicago Bulls on now?
I saw some real signs of life in Chicago … particularly Catherine Zeta-Jones' performance. She can run my triangle offense any time she wants.
Sure was a warm and fuzzy story of O.J. Simpson visiting the old team at practice the other day. Sort of brought back fond memories of Knick/Heat games.
How can it be that the Nets and Rockets draw more fans on the road than at home?
Why do I get the impression that the honeymoon in Dallas for Raef LaFrentz is officially over?
If they ever get this cloning thing right, we can only hope they duplicate the good guys. The last thing we need are more Shawn Bradleys and Michael Olowokandis. Or more people with the attitude of Gary Payton or the confusion of George Karl.
I would love to hear the conversations between Pat Riley the coach and Pat the GM on trading away Ricky Davis after only seven games.
Nice run by the Blazers recently. Isn't it a bit shallow, though, that the colors of the jerseys have so much to do with things?
The whining about playing time from the babies in Chicago is mind-boggling. Haven't Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford and Eddie Robinson heard about doing hard work to earn something valuable. But when even Dalibor Bagaric gets in on it, you realize that we have hit the nadir of western civilization.
Watching the new Jordan Gatorade commercial juxtaposing his early career against the current version makes me long for the day when Michael was able to pull a team together.
You must admire the Maloofs' sense of humor for their printing of the Sacramento Queens T-shirts. Do you think they sent one to Shaq as a wedding gift?
I can only hope that the rat thrown on the court during the recent Utah-Philly game was not a product placement publicity stunt promoting this weekend's TV movie about Enron.
Remember the old days when the All-Star host city actually had to have a player on the team. Sadly, my only choice, if that were still the case this year in Atlanta, would be Dominique Wilkins.
Was there ever a more cogent and prescient statement than Shareef Abdur-Rahim pointing out that his Hawks would get pushed around by a WNBA team these days?
An analysis of the Wizards and T-Wolves' records against the NBA better teams can only lead to the conclusion that their playoff dreams lie solely on the all-important decision of opponent selection.
MJ's recent comments about him skipping the All-Star Game unless voted on as a starter are more than a bit disappointing. I thought this season was about the love of the game and teaching the young players the way it all works.
Why does the All-Star Game revolve so much around positions when so many of the deserving players defy the very notion of being classified or limited by that narrow concept?
Remember when dinosaurs were cool? Now the Toronto Raptors are nearing extinction and pornography is found in a "Sing Along Songs" Barney book. At least it wasn't a pop-up version.
After seeing what Donald Rumsfeld did for Iraq in building up their defenses in the '80s, here's to wondering why he can't do the same for the Lakers today?
You know the New Year couldn't get here fast enough when John Lucas, for motivational purposes, printed a bogus news release touting the accomplishments of Carlos Boozer as a member of the All-Star Rookie challenge. Or was it when I saw a man actually named Jack Ass suing the self-titled show and movie for defamation of character?
When Jerry Colangelo called Amare Stoudemire the best player the Phoenix Suns ever drafted, I felt particularly bad for Neal Walk.
With some fans giving Juwan Howard a hard time these days, calling him a bum and all, you would hope that $20 million a year might buy some thicker skin.
Olowokandi sure hopes the rumors of the Black Crowes splitting up are not true? How could he hear his theme music -- "Shake Your Money Maker?"
Watching MJ, Reggie Miller and Karl Malone is a sad reminder of one of life's greatest truths: Father Time really does wait for no one.
Vince Carter being second among all NBA players in the early All-Star voting certainly proves that reputations are very difficult to shake.
That couldn't have been Nelly who was pushing the Vince Carter trade to Cleveland? You don't think that anyone would use Vince to get in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, do you?
Thanks Steinway and Phish for never letting the music stop.
Bill Walton, who is an NBA analyst for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Every Friday during the NBA season, he takes a look around the league and shares his thoughts on "NBA Shootaround" at 7:30 p.m. ET. Look for more of Bill's ramblings after the show.
