NBA Basketball Key (image courtesy Wikimedia) These are the best 5 NBA franchises of all time, in my opinion. I include the team’s best point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center, and 6th best player. I also calculate chemistry. For example, Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Charles Barkley, and Shaq would not be the best team ever, even though they are some of the best players ever. There is only one ball, so five of the best scorers who just aren’t great passers would not work. 5. Golden State Warriors PG: Steph Curry SG: Klay Thompson SF: Kevin Durant PF: Draymond Green C: Wilt Chamberlain Sub: Tim Hardaway It’s surprising to see Draymond Green as the Warriors best power forward. You’re probably thinking, “there had to be someone better, right?” I know some old Warriors power forwards who weren’t as good as Draymond Green, but I can’t think of any who were better. The reason the Warriors are not 3rd or 4th best is only that they have too many pure scorers. 4. Chicago Bulls PG: Derick Rose SG: Michael Jordan SF: Scottie Pippen PF: Dennis Rodman C: Artis Gilmore Sub: Jimmy Butler For this to work, it would have to be the MVP, uninjured Derick Rose. Artis Gilmore is a Hall of Famer, along with Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and of course, the G.O.A.T. [Greatest of All Time], Michael Jordan. Jimmy Butler is a rising All-Star for the Timberwolves, but I still count him as a Bull. 3. San Antonio Spurs PG: Tony Parker SG: George Gervin SF: Kahwi Leonard PF: Tim Duncan C: David Robinson Sub: LaMarcus Aldridge This is the opposite of a selfish team. If you watch the Spurs play, you can see their ball and player movement, and also their unselfishness. Adding “The Iceman” and ‘The Admiral” would be safe because neither one of them were selfish players. 2. Los Angeles Lakers PG: Magic Johnson SG: Kobe Bryant SF: Elgin Baylor PF: Kareem Abdul Jabbar C: Shaquille O’Neal Sub: Jerry West The hardest thing about this was positioning Kareem and Shaq. They are both almost the definition of center. Kareem is a bit more athletic than Shaq, so I put him at power forward. Hopefully Magic Johnson will make up for Kobe’s selfishness. Having Mr. Clutch (Jerry West) definitely helps. 1. Boston Celtics PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Paul Peirce SF: Larry Bird PF: Kevin McHale C: Bill Russell Sub: Bob Cousy What???!! Kyrie Irving? He hasn’t even played ten games for the Celtics! But, he has the most points of any Celtic for his first five games. It’s hard to argue that they are not the best team though. Which other team has 17 championships? This is like combining all of the NBA’s eras. First, the earliest era (Bob Cousy). Then, the Bill Russell era. Then, the Bird/Johnson era. Then, the beginning of the modern era (Paul Peirce). Then, the Future era (Kyrie Irving).
Young Bloggers
A Desert Wonder
Walker River (photo credit: wikicommons) So there I was, atop a mountain in the Nevada High Desert, near Walker River. I had climbed up there just a few minutes before, and just as soon as I got there, I was in wonder. Most seem to think that the desert is a dry, barren place devoid of life and beauty of any sort, besides dead plants that dotted the hills. As I looked across the vast expanse of sand and rocks below me, I realized this was not true. My surroundings were, as many people like to think, quite dry and sandy, but still, when looked at with more depth than an assumption, quite alive as well. The scrub bushes, leafed and thorned alike, all swayed in the wind as if they were not brittle, but instead, alive. There was still a dark green tint of color about them as well. If I listened, birds sung just as much as in a more vegetated area, and I could hear the hum of flies and bees as they went about on their business. I could feel the wind tousle my hair, a nice, calming feeling. So there was life, I just had to look for it, I thought. I sighed as I began to climb down the mountain, for I had experienced something great. A deep silence seemed to ensue, for the wind had stopped. The only sound was the faint gurgling of Walker River in the distance. When I reached the foot of the hill, my father called me for supper. That night, as my family and I sat around a campfire, warming our hands, I decided to look beyond the light of the fire. I looked first towards the mountain I had scaled earlier that day, and then up at the sky. What I saw astounded me. Stars, millions upon millions of them dotted the dark atmosphere above me. They seemed clearer and twinkled with more light than I had ever seen in stars near a town or city before. To put it simply, there were more stars here in an unpopulated area than anywhere else I had ever been. I spotted the Big Dipper on the right, Orion’s Belt on the left, and everywhere else some sort of constellation seemed to appear. The next day I went for a walk along the bank of Walker River. To my surprise, lizards began popping up every few minutes. There were animals in the desert then, too, I thought. Later that day a snake crossed my path. It was a gopher snake, about four feet long. Then again, a couple minutes later, I saw a smaller gopher snake. And then again, another one, however this one was a corn snake. Even nature’s desert is beautiful. Walker River is one of my favorite places to go, and if I could, I would protect it from construction. It is simply that beautiful. The thing is, I can protect it. I am working on that now. Who will help me protect Earth from destruction? I will, and there is no changing that.
The Life of Mahatma Gandhi and the Act of Going Deeper in Learning
Eleven seventh graders and one teacher are clustered around three white tables in the middle of a small room, the walls adorned with maps, a white board, and a picture of Gandhi at a spinning wheel. We are discussing Gandhi’s religion and how it influenced him in his philosophy and life. Ideas bounce around the table, but I have run out of things to say. Our limited information comes from a few days of teacher presentations, class discussions, and short articles that our teacher handed out it class. All of the information is very school-like, interesting, but minimal because of the time limitations. After a few more ideas fly by, my mind drifts to my Gandhi book that I had picked off the shelf yesterday. It was The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, by Louis Fischer. I had gobbled the first few chapters up, taking in all the information I could about his death, the Hindu religion, and nonviolence. That information comes back to me and my hand shoots up. His relationship with his very religious mother led him to read the Gita and other religious texts when he was in law school. The Gita taught him to not feel temptation, which contributed to him being able to stay non-violent and peaceful. Then class is over, and instead of the learning about Gandhi being over too, I have the Gandhi book in my hand, ready to be read. I was more confident in class because I went deeper in this subject, but more importantly, I learned that I can go deeper in my learning. I may not ever need to know about Gandhi’s relationship with his mother, but learning to love and to go deeper with a subject is a skill that I will want in my life. I homeschooled until 6th grade, and I was taught at an early age that learning has no beginning or end, that you are constantly learning. We went regularly to the library and explored the Library of Congress, Folger Shakespeare Library, National Gallery, and all of the museums on the DC mall. When I homeschooled, learning was an all day experience. It was not confined to a small classroom, but opened up to the whole world. I learned when I was homeschooling that the world of learning is a mansion. The teacher’s job is to hand you the key and bring you to the entryway. However, there are so many more rooms to go through. They may not be neat and tidy like the information that your teacher presents you, but there are endless closets, drawers, and nooks and crannies to explore.. So, I challenge you, don’t let the mindset of having school work be the only way you learn take over. This week, month, or even semester, take something that you are learning about in school, or are super interested in, and find a book about it at the library, or read an article, or talk to an adult (other than your teacher) who knows about it. Dig into the subject even deeper–be an explorer, a researcher, an adventurer, a learner–and see what you find. Good luck!
