Archives › Ira Winderman
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Winderman: Charity games show fans’ passion, market to see NBA elite
Oct 3, 2011, 2:55 PM EDT
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How intense is the demand from the NBA market for product? Tickets to the Saturday lockout exhibition at Florida International University that LeBron James is helping promote sold out within two hours Monday. Even though there were no on-line or phone sales, and even though some windows at the school’s box office only took cash…
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Winderman: Tone of labor talks could lead to fewer player/fan interactions
Sep 27, 2011, 1:21 PM EDT
The traditional defining moment of the end of NBA lockout is the handshake between David Stern and Billy Hunter, followed by some sort of blathering about the “partnership” going forward. Until now, with a defined percentage of revenues going to players, there was something to be said about the legitimacy of that partnership. When league…
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Based on the slow-go turn in lockout negotiations, it is safe to say that we’re officially on the clock, a backwards timetable to the earliest-possible start to the NBA season. Those involved in the process are virtually unanimous in a two-week timetable being necessary for agreement-into-final draft and then a union vote. Conversations with others…
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In many respects, the resolve of the NBA players’ union is laudable. They insist they will not be railroaded into an owner-friendly agreement just to get back on the court. Based on the pessimism coming out of Tuesday’s negotiations in New York, we seemingly are back to the notion that nothing gets done until the…
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Winderman: Players keep playing, which is a bad lockout sign
Sep 5, 2011, 1:57 PM EDT
We already have a complete 2011-12 schedule, because how, otherwise, could the NBA prove to the National Labor Relations Board that it is bargaining in good faith amid the lockout? To that end, we also have a complete preseason schedule, because part of the process means tormenting fans in Wichita, Sioux Falls, Fargo and Raleigh…
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The NBA-headed-overseas movement appears to be at a waiting-to-exhale moment. For weeks, the “What if?” scenarios of the supposed mass migration were ones mostly reduced to whispers. What if an NBA player is injured overseas? What if such an injury impacted an existing contract? What if overseas insurance doesn’t cover every eventuality? According to a…
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Winderman: Former Georgetown brawlers Ewing, Mourning unite for South Africa
Aug 23, 2011, 1:46 PM EDT
The enduring memory of Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing is of Georgetown alums who didn’t allow their Hoya loyalties to get in the way of a healthy scrum. See: Heat-Knicks, circa late-’90s. Yet Tuesday, as the two spoke on an NBA-arranged conference call to detail their participation, along with fellow former Hoya Dikembe Mutombo, on…
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The flights are mostly one way, west to east. Everyone seemingly is going to Europe or beyond, amid the lockout. We appreciate the incentive for the players, the opportunity to stay sharp, find competition, earn a few pennies on their typical NBA dollars. But they are not alone in this process. It also is one…
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Winderman: Wait five years? Yao could be in Hall of Fame next year.
Aug 8, 2011, 5:45 PM EDT
With his recent retirement, the waiting period officially is under way for Yao Ming. According to enshrinement guidelines for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, “A player must be fully retired for five years before being eligible for Enshrinement. He/she may then be considered for Enshrinement in the sixth year of retirement.” Because the…
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Winderman: Why Fisher, Fredette, 11 other players get named in NBA suit
Aug 2, 2011, 8:12 PM EDT
They are, for now, the Lockout 13, the 13 players selected by the NBA to be listed as defendants in the class action complaint for declaratory relief filed Tuesday by the league with the United States District Court Southern District of New York. But why those 13? Because of union status. And proximity to the…
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Winderman: Challenge in NBA lockout is owners, players infighting
Jul 26, 2011, 1:37 PM EDT
The two sides in the NFL labor dispute have finally come together, so there will be football. Perhaps that’s why they came together, because there only were two sides. What has become increasingly clear amid this first month of the NBA lockout is that this is a lockout squared. There essentially are four sides. On…
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Winderman: K-State’s Pullen shows how this NBA summer is different
Jul 12, 2011, 3:48 PM EDT
Yes, we can gasp all we want about reports that link Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant or Dwyane Wade to European destinations. The NBA rumor cycle, even amid a lockout, must, after all, be fed 24-7-365. But whether any of that happens certainly will be more of a September or October story, if it is a…
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To some, these are the worst of times for the NBA. An impending lockout. The drafting of a new collective-bargaining agreement. Big-money teams vs. low-revenue franchises in what might set up as its own civil war. And yet this also can be the best of times in at least one respect, in the void of…
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Quality? That’s debatable. Depth? That’s the consensus. Bizarre? Apparently that’s the ticket. The 2011 NBA Draft comes off as much as circus as orderly restocking of rosters. Chet Kammerer, a long-time NBA talent evaluator who currently works alongside Pat Riley as the Heat’s vice president of player personnel, said Wednesday that any process that starts…
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Winderman: Wade says he, LeBron are similar, can play together
Jun 14, 2011, 7:00 PM EDT
MIAMI — Yes, Dwyane Wade said Tuesday as the Heat emptied out their lockers at AmericanAirlines arena, he and LeBron James play similar styles. And no, Wade said, they’re not changing. Amid post-Finals debate about whether the duo possess complementary or redundant styles, an examination exacerbated by Jeff Van Gundy’s on-camera musing during the NBA…
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It was another of those too-much-time-for-questions moments at these NBA Finals. Still two victories from an NBA title (which is as many victories as the Heat currently have), LeBron James was asked Tuesday morning if his legacy requires he be named Most Valuable Player of these Finals, as well. Once again, in what is becoming…
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What has no thumbs and yet could give the Heat a grip on the NBA title for the next few seasons? Mike Miller. Still recovering from preseason surgery on his right thumb and poised for offseason surgery on his left thumb, the veteran swingman stands as an example of how much a player with a…
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A few years back, amid one of those periods of inspection when it came to NBA officiating, the attempt was made during one of his NBA Finals media sessions to get David Stern to comment on greater access to referees. The question began something along the lines of, “Considering there will always be those who…
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Winderman: Odd NBA executive vote mostly anti-Riley sour grapes
May 10, 2011, 2:46 PM EDT
So what does the NBA think of the notion of securing a big bag of money and throwing it in front of three of the game’s best players? Apparently not much. So despite landing LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during last summer’s free-agency-free-for-all, Heat President Pat Riley received only a partial cut of…
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Every year the process feels dirty, for some reason this season more so than others. Why, exactly, do NBA award ballots have to be in to the league office by Thursday? Why can’t the playoffs count, especially since many consider those the only games that matter, anyway? This isn’t baseball, when you play a six-month…
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OK, exhale. No, not from the disappointment that was the NCAA men’s championship game (Butler apparently couldn’t hit the exit on its way home, either), but rather from the Basketball Hall of Fame announcements. Teresa Edwards, Goose Tatum and Herb Magee but no Reggie Miller, who didn’t even make it to the final round of…
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The reasoning might have been right, but perhaps the target was wrong. Few approaches at the NBA trading deadline are considered as egregious as trading away your team’s chances at a playoff berth. So when Michael Jordan traded away (although “gave away” would be closer to the truth) Gerald Wallace to the Trail Blazers at…
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Winderman: Heat charging fans to line up on wrong side of velvet rope
Mar 16, 2011, 9:41 PM EDT
On a day when LeBron James revealed a bracket on his website that has Duke as his choice, after he previously said he thought Ohio State would win the NCAA Tournament, apparently the rules have changed. Based on a Wednesday announcement from the Miami Heat, that has become abundantly clear. Upon announcing that the team…
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One of the prime sticking points in the negotiations for a new NBA collective-bargaining agreement is maximum contract length. Currently, players can be signed for up to six seasons. Management wants far shorter terms. Based on the machinations at the buyout deadline, the players certainly are fueling management’s argument. Even with time left on the…
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Winderman: ‘Melo trade means Knicks now target Chris Paul, Dwight Howard
Feb 21, 2011, 11:31 PM EDT
Don’t even think about exhaling. The trade of Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks does not, finally, put the focus back on the court. Not in today’s NBA, or, more specifically, in tomorrow’s NBA. Think these past months were lessons in abject cruelty in Denver? Then consider what now follows…
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Video: Bosh: 'We'll see who hits first'
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Video: Clippers, Celtics discussions 'can't be wrong'
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Video: Elliot looks ahead to Game 6
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Video: The Hype: How much would you pay to punch someone?
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Video: If Heat lose, 'all hell will break loose'
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Video: Green breaks NBA finals 3-point record
