That would be preposterous. Perhaps more important, however, is that the Cavs have been phenomenal at contesting perimeter shots over this span of defensive turnaround. Over the last six games the Cavs' opponents have hit just The Cavs have played better on and off-ball defense on the perimeter, and their rotations have been such that opponents are scoring more on cuts to the basket than getting open looks outside, which has made three-point looks harder to come by. Following a sluggish start to the season, Cleveland is finally finding its groove.
Once this machine picks up a head of steam, not even an immovable object will stand much of a chance. As for the fans? LeBron James stole the routine of tossing talcum or chalk into the air from Michael Jordan.
And considering what went down Thursday night, I can't believe more people besides NBA Offseason aren't talking about it. There's no way around it, no way James thought of it on his own, and for a guy to be as celebrated and documented as Jordan was, it's a bit shocking that people don't remember this. And yes, we know that Kevin Garnett notes aided in the evolution of the talcum toss, before a game; but honestly, was LeBron James watching Minnesota Timberwolves games growing up?
Johnny "Red" Kerr was a former NBA All-Star, Chicago native, and he was the first coach the Bulls ever had -- taking Chicago's expansion team to the playoffs in its first year, a feat that hasn't been duplicated in the 43 years since. Luckily for the late s, they begat the early s, and the early s gave the Bulls Michael Jordan. And sometime in the late s he didn't start it right away , Jordan started to clap the talcum powder he was given just after player introductions as he walked toward the game's opening jump ball in Kerr's general direction just to annoy the Chicago legend.
Kerr, who didn't seem to get angry at anything but a bad referee's dubious call, would laugh and feign coughing as a result; sometimes complaining about how the powder would float down into his coffee. The ritual never went away. This wasn't something Jordan did during the doldrums of a long NBA season.
If the Bulls were nationally televised, and Kerr was moved into radio duty, Jordan would seek him out. MJ played 1, games for the Chicago Bulls in both the regular season and the playoffs, and while he did clap talcum into Johnny's face every time, Kerr was there for each and every one of them.
As pictured above, Kerr who passed away in got the treatment from Jordan even at a ceremony that introduced a Johnny "Red" Kerr statue at Chicago's United Center in James' ritual is a little different. The talcum flies in the air to draw attention, as if he's some sort of magician trying to encourage the parents at this particular birthday party to step away from the snacks table and into the living room for his "show.
Jordan's ritual? Just a smart-alecky little move, meant to annoy the person who documented his career better than anyone else, and something that turned into a superstition that Jordan nearly could not live without. Other popular stories on Yahoo! An Orange County mom has filed a police complaint after her daughter was left with a concussion from a sucker punch during a youth basketball game. Most players shoot before games, usually somewhere between 90 and 50 minutes prior to game time.
James hadn't done it once all season until Monday night, choosing instead to stretch and go through rigorous calisthenics and body maintenance with trainer Mike Mancias, who's followed him from Cleveland, to Miami, and back again. Perhaps shooting before games was a way to help James begin games with a better feel for his shot. Doing away with the chalk toss - in which he tosses talcum powder into the air from the scorer's table before each game -- has very little to do with playing better.
So much about the Cavaliers revolves around James. He garners the most attention from the press, gets the loudest cheers from the fans, is most prominently featured during the team's pregame introductions The chalk toss was one more thing that put James on a different level from his teammates.
That may not be why he dumped it -- there was no chalk toss prior to at least the last two games -- but the result is another in which James can lead by example.
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