The Millennium NBA Preview: Lakers

Tweet With NBA previews and predictions up seemingly everywhere, it seems redundant to rehash the same old questions: Who will be the MVP, who will win the title, who will make the playoffs etc. There is a lot more to an NBA season's stories than just numbers, awards, and predictions. So in the coming weeks, as the NBA picture begins to unfold, we will examine some of the more interesting teams and story lines associated with them.In the first part of what will be many features about the 2012/2013 NBA season, we will examine the overhauled Los Angeles Lakers and a potential change in mentality of Kobe Bryant.

When the news that Kobe plans to retire at the end of the 2014 season came out, I was genuinely surprised. Like many, I thought that Kobe would attempt to break the all-time scoring record before he hung it up, but it seems that he wants to try and accomplish what so few in the NBA have done: go out both as the leader of your team and as a winner (Bill Russell is the only one I can think of that did this, Jordan did too until he ruined the perfect end to a career by playing with the Wizards). Think about it, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Isiah, Hakeem, Barkley, Miller, Stockton, Malone, Payton, Ewing, and many others, how did their careers end? Some said "F*ck it, I gave it my all, I am happy with what I've accomplished and wont resort to latching onto a contender to try and win a ring" - Stockton, Reggie, Barkley, Ewing. Some just realized that their run was over and that they would never be the main guy on a title team, so they too called it quits - Bird, Magic, Isiah, Hakeem, Shaq (who actually managed to try and latch on to every contender he could in a sad attempt to tie Kobe). While the rest shamelessly pursued a ring, regardless of their role on the team and in some cases succeeded (Gary Payton) or failed (Malone). If the Lakers manage to capture the title in Kobe's last season, it would be a truly unique accomplishment that very few NBA players can say they achieved. You can make the argument that Kobe wont be the best player on the team, but this is still very much 'his' team as far as anyone is concerned. You don't associate Dwight Howard with the Lakers, you do associate Kobe Bryant with them.

NBA: Recap of the Week

Tweet In this edition of the 'recap of the week' I will examine the NBA's playoff picture, talk about some of the big games of last week, and of course, some Ron Artest talk. Hit the jump to read more.

A Look at the Week That Was in the NBA

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Which teams are making noise?

With only four weeks to go in the NBA's regular season, now is the time where teams need to make their move and peak at the right time (which everyone seems to agree is right before the playoffs). The team that did that in a resounding way last week were the Thunder of Oklahoma city. OKC is currently riding a 6-game winning streak in which they went 3-0 against other title contenders (The Lakers, Bulls, and Heat) as well as another quality win over a good opponent who isn't quite as good as the other teams (The Clippers). I have to admit that I was genuinely impressed by Oklahoma's performance, especially the chemistry between Westbrook and Durant. Last season Westbrook took a lot of criticism for not deferring to KD, but as Magic said today "we hated on him last year, but now we have to give him his props", the truth is, if both of those guys can sustain this level of performance (and play with each other unselfishly) in and throughout the playoffs, we could see the birth of a very scary dynasty. However, despite their level of play this year, Oklahoma still has work to do to clinch home court advantage throughout the West thanks to the ageless Spurs.

San Antonio did not really impress me as much as the Thunder this week, but this is largely due to the fact that San Antonio's consistency over the last decade, as well as their refusal to die (figuratively of course) does not phase me anymore.  I could type how under-the-radar they have been, or how they have quietly gotten younger and more athletic, and how they have the best coach in the league, but none of that stuff matters because nobody will be interested in hearing it. San Antonio will get their proper respect after the first round of the playoffs (if they get there), until then, you really wont hear as much about them as you will about some of the other contenders. One last team I will mention, before moving on to other topics, is the Boston Celtics. Following the trade deadline, in which Danny Ainge wisely decided to let this crew have one last run (and if you think anyone will knock this team out easily, you are mistaken) Pierce, Rondo, Garnett, Allen, and Rivers will have this team believing, even if no one else believes in them. They have crept up on Orlando for the 3 seed in the East and are in full out business mode. The blowout they laid on the Heat yesterday signals that these guys are locked in, and the Heat and Bulls wont be happy about it and they definitely will not be happy if they have to face a rejuvenated and motivated Celtics team in the playoffs.

How is the MVP race shaking up after last week?

NBA 2012 All-Star Reserves

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Last week the 2012 NBA all-star starters were announced for the game in Orlando on February 26^th. Without much surprise the East consisted of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony at the forward spots, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose as the guards, and Dwight Howard at center. The West starters selected were Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Andrew Bynum (first appearance). Now that the fan voting is done the all-star reserves get to be selected with the official announcement tomorrow. I’m going to give a list of the players who I think should be selected and why they deserve to play in the 2012 all-star game.

Eastern Conference Reserves

PG – Rajon Rondo: He’s the third best point guard in the east, but the second best on a winning team and is the leader of the Celtics (it shouldn’t be the big 3, it should be Rondo, Pierce and friends) so he certainly deserves a spot in the all-star game.

SG/SF – Andre Iguodala: The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the best teams in the league and give teams problems with their lock-down defense. Since someone from this team deserves an all-star selection, why not choose the 76ers leader on both ends of the floor. His scoring numbers may not look flashy, but Iguodala has been one of the best wing defenders in the league for a few years and contributes to his team’s offense with smart ball movement. He’s definitely playing like an all-star in my eyes this year.

SG/SF – Joe Johnson: The Hawks have surprised me this season since I thought they would plummet in the standings (especially after the Horford injury) but they have kept it together with the leadership of Joe Johnson. His numbers are about the same as last year but he has taken that leader role and has done a great job so far, as indicated by the Hawks record.

SF – Luol Deng: If the NBA rewards winning with all-star appearances then the Bulls should have 2 all-stars. Deng has been the second best player on the Bulls for the last few years (since Rose stepped in as the franchise player) and finally deserves some recognition for his hard work.

SF – Paul Pierce: Pierce is playing like his usual all-star self, meaning he’s destined to go to Orlando in a few weeks. The Celtics have struggled (especially due to injuries) but Pierce has stepped it up recently, especially when he led the whole team while Rondo was out by averaging 7 assists per game.

PF – Chris Bosh: Bosh was on a tear while Wade was out and gave us glimpses of his days as a Raptor. His scoring numbers have increased from last year and it also helps that his team stands 2^nd in the East.

C – Roy Hibbert: Indiana deserves a player in the all-star game, the only problem is who to pick. It’s really tough picking a player on such a well balanced team, so let’s go through the starters. Granger (the “franchise” player) has been shooting the ball poorly this year and is not looking like the leader on this team. George and Collison have both been solid, but not all-star worthy and West is nowhere near his old all-star form. I have to go with Hibbert since he’s been a dominant force on offense and defense. He’s averaging career highs in points, rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage and is the second best center in the East. I think he should be a lock as an all-star and hopefully the GMs think the same way.

Western Conference Reserves

PG – Russell Westbrook: He is a top 6 point guard who is on the 2^nd best team in the league so I don’t think much needs to be said here. Side note: He can finally play shooting guard (his natural position).

PG – Tony Parker: Parker has really impressed me this year with his overall play. He has increased his scoring from last year and is averaging a career high in assists (career high after 10 years in the league!?). I believe he’s the best player on the Spurs right now who sit comfortably in 2^nd in the West. Duncan’s best days are over (averaging career lows in almost everything) so Parker should be representing the Spurs at the all-star game this year.

PG – Ty Lawson: The Denver Nuggets offense has been fun and exciting to watch, which is run by a 5’11 (he’s probably 5’9) point guard by the name of Ty Lawson. Lawson has been excellent this year and has raised his numbers across the board. He should get a free trip to Orlando to showcase his talent with the success he and his team are having. I would have considered putting Gallinari here but he’s likely out for 3-4 weeks.

PF – Paul Millsap: The Jazz have been surprisingly good this year (they were 2^nd in the West at one point) mostly due to their front court due of Millsap and Al Jefferson. Both of these guys are worthy of a spot but I would have to go with Millsap. Statistically they are about equal but Millsap brings up the energy level of the entire team with his hustle (3.3 o.reb/game) and hard work.

PF – Kevin Love: 25 and 14…enough said.

PF/C – LaMarcus Aldridge: Aldridge elevated his game to an all-star level last year, but was unfortunate to be the last cut in the West. This year he’s averaging 2 more points and is leading the Blazers to the playoffs. If 24 and 9 with a good team record isn’t enough for a trip to Orlando then I don’t know what is.

C – Marc Gasol: Gasol makes his 4^th all star game…wait Marc Gasol…what?? Yes, Marc Gasol has been the best center in the West this year (and has outplayed his brother) averaging career highs in points (15), rebounds (10), assists (2.7), and blocks (2.2). He has picked up the slack when Randolph went down with a knee injury and has emerged as the Grizzlies MVP. He has earned his spot in the all-star game. Side note: Hey Pau, at least one Gasol will be participating in the game!

The Millennium NBA preview

Tweet With the NBA serving up an incredible Christmas day slate doubling as the opening day we at Millennium could not be more excited. So without further ado here are some of our thoughts on the upcoming season. I will lead off.

Daki:

The thing I am most glad about is the fact that the NBA will keep the momentum from last year's wonderful season going. Last year was the first time in a long time that both the regular and post seasons truly mattered. We had a star breaking out in Derick Rose, we had a true villain (Lebron and the heat), and we had some major surprises (Pacers, Grizzlies). Best of all, we had a group of guys who all won the ring that had eluded them for their entire careers (Kidd, Peja, Marion, Dirk, Terry, Mark Cuban). This year the only thing we know for sure is that Miami and Lebron are still very much the villains but we have no idea what teams will surprise us, what teams will emerge as contenders, or which player will emerge as the next star. Finding out these unknowns is what excites me the most about this season, along with an exciting Kings roster that should be fun to watch its really all I could ask for. Luka and Igor will cover most of the major story lines so I will explain my picks for MVP, the champion and rookie of the year awards. ROY: Brandon Knight (just a hunch). MVP: Kobe Bryant (I will wait for you to stop laughing). Phil Jackson has said numerous times that Kobe knows how to achieve and embrace being the perfect team mate, but chooses not to due to the pursuit of selfish accolades such as scoring titles. I firmly believe that Kobe is aware of his declining abilities and as much as he wants to pass Kareem on the all-time scoring list, I think he cares about winning just a bit more. This season the Lakers are a really popular pick to be a disaster and the only thing that will prevent that is if Kobe finally chooses to play the right way (making team mates better, passing to open team mates for game winners, rebounding, taking smarter shots). If he does decide to play the right way, look for a slew of stories around February about how Kobe "finally gets it" as well as a few "Kobe may not be the best player anymore, but you can argue he has been the most valuable" (I fully expect someone like Skip Bayless to do this). If Kobe instead chooses to keep doing things the way he always has we can safely assume that he desires to pass Kareem (in points) rather than Jordan (in titles). As for my title pick, I am taking Chicago over Memphis in 6.

MVP: Kobe Bryant
ROY: Brandon Knight
Champion: Bulls (with Rose winning Finals MVP)

Igor:

It doesn’t seem real that the NBA season is actually going to start soon since I pretty much convinced myself that it wasn’t going to happen. There are a few key things that I’m really looking forward to watching this coming season.

In the East the biggest story will be whether the Heat can “redeem” themselves from losing in the finals after everyone (including themselves) considered them the champions before the season started. One year of chemistry building between the big 3 (or 2.5) is crucial and I doubt that they will start the season off 9-8 like last year. The only problem is that they haven’t really added many pieces other than Battier, but he does not fix their lack of a center and point guard. Regardless they are still the favourites to come out on top of the East. The Knicks will be very fun to watch this year and could give the Heat some problems during the season. The additions of Chandler and Davis (once he heals) are important for their improvement from last year. As a Bulls fan, I’m interested in seeing how much Hamilton will help the team out and if Boozer can put together a solid year. Rose should maintain his great performance from his MVP year and with offensive help from Boozer and Hamilton, the Bulls look like a team that will go deep in the playoffs. After giving the Bulls a run for their money in the first round last year, Indiana should be the dark horse of the East especially after the addition of West. As crap as I think the Raptors will be this year, I will be closely watching Casey’s coaching and hoping to see some improvement on defense (already seen some glimpses of it during pre-season). Also keep an eye out for my friend Jan Vesely on the Wizards. Playing with John Wall will only be beneficial to his career.

The West is loaded with great teams and it will get very competitive down the stretch of the season. Here are a few questions to think about this season. Is there a new best team in L.A.? Will Rubio live up to the hype? Can Portland put it together after losing Roy? Will Memphis come out as a top 3 team in the West? Can the Mavs maintain their championship form? Most teams are interesting in the West, but my two favourite teams are the Warriors and the Thunder. Despite the Warriors’ struggles in the past few years, they are my favourite team to watch in all of sports due to their unpredictability and high pace. They can beat the best teams and lose to the worst teams on any given night. This is the year that Mark Jackson steps into the head coaching position and shows the league how to play “hand down man down” defense. Jokes aside I think he will be great for Ellis and Curry (since he was a great point guard during his career) who are probably the most talented backcourt in the NBA. If you’re bored at 10:30 any night you can’t go wrong with watching a Warriors game. With the addition of Perkins, improvement of Ibaka and Harden, and Durant and Westbrook entering their primes, this is the year of the Thunder. They have it all from lockdown defense to great offense and will be at the top of the NBA. Watch for them to storm through the West and win it all.

MVP: Durant                  

ROY: Kemba Walker

Finals: Bulls vs. Thunder

Winner: Thunder in 6 (Durant finals MVP)

Luka:

The NBA will finally make its long-awaited return tomorrow with 5 great games. During the lockout I always thought that the season would be cancelled since both sides seemed like they did not care about losing a season. It made me think that I would not care as much about the upcoming season. And yet, when the season was announced I immediately forgot about the whole lockout, and even stranger was the fact that I did not care. All I wanted to do was watch. It felt as if David Stern and Billy Hunter did their best men in black impression on me and the rest of the NBA's fans. And now with the opening less then 24 hours away there are a countless number of things in my head that I cant wait to see how they will play out.

Here are some of my thoughts/questions/things to look forward to about the upcoming NBA season (some of these are jokes).

The Dallas Mavericks trying to win back-to-back titles without their 2nd and 6th best players from last years run. The Heat being the only great team with seemingly no other teams at their level at this point. Hating the Miami Heat again. Watching Lebron's headband increase in size as the season progresses. People realizing that Shane Battier is old. Vince Carter and Tracy Mcgrady trying to out-suck each other in Dallas and Atlanta respectively (my money is on T-mac because I think he died 2 years ago). The Raptors being absolutely awful. Relictantly watching every Raptors game in the hope that they are not absolutely awful. My grades dropping because each team plays 66 games in 120 days!!! Kobe buying Vanessa a 4-million dollar ring for each women he cheated on her with. Kobe going bankrupt in 3 days. Baron Davis' rejuvination in New York. Brian "the custodian" Cardinal. Wondering how Calderon is making 10 million dollars this year. The Durant/Westbrook relationship. The Phil Jackson to the Knicks rumours that wont stop. Dwight Howard trade talks. The battle for L.A. The Indiana Pacers being a sneaky-good basketball team. Whether or not Memphis will be able to surprise people again (I think yes). Will anyone watch a Bobcats game? (Only if MJ suits up). Shaq recording a "tell me how my ass tastes" remix with Vanessa Bryant, Karl Malone, and Ruben Patterson. The Celtics relying on Keyon Dooling. Gregg Popovich ruining fantasy leagues everywhere by resting Parker, Duncan, and Manu more then people think he will. Lastly, seeing if this season can top last season.

Champion: Heat over Mavs in 6 

MVP: Carmelo Anthony

ROY: Kemba Walker

Throwback Thursdays #6

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In the words of LL Cool J, don't call it a comeback. After a long break (mostly due to exams but also some laziness on our part) since our last throwback thursday post, Jovan and I decided to once more choose 3 songs from the past and write our feelings about them. If you want to read the old ones, they can be found here, here, here, here, and here. Finally the photo is of the cast of Student Bodies, a YTV show that was and still is very entertaining to watch. Full episodes can be found on Youtube (my personal favourite is when the guys get their car stranded on an abandoned "haunted" road). If you have no idea what I'm talking about then I feel bad for your childhood.

Luka:

Bad Meets Evil - Scary Movies

The first single from the Detroit duo that had a hit with this year's Bad Meets Evil: Hell the Sequel. This song has that classic 90's rap feel with both of the Detroit emcees delivering clever and memorable lines. Eminem is at his nasally-best here with lines like "I'm sicker than a Tupac dedication to Biggie". I enjoyed their album that came out this year but one can only wonder how both their careers would have changed if they had remained as a group back in the day.

Craig David - Seven Days

I really like this song for reasons that are unclear to me. It might be the video where Craig decides to retell his story about a girl to his friends at the most stereotypical African-American hangout, the barbershop. Only things missing was some fried chicken and some kool-aid. Regardless of that the video has a cool plot with Craig getting multiple chances to get with the girl he wants (think Groundhog day). Craig's hair in the video is strange to say the least. It's a mix between an afro and spiky hair but the spikes are flat (see I wasn't lying, very confusing). The song itself is easy-listening and catchy with lyrics about what he's going to do with the girl on each day of the week. One more thing, does anyone else think the girl who breaks her high heel in the video is better than the girl Craig wants?

Kobe Bryant ft. Tyra Banks - K.O.B.E.

No you didn't read that wrong. This is a rap song by Kobe Bryant featuring Tyra Banks. I'll let that sink in for a bit. Why did Kobe do this? I'm not sure but it was in the era where every NBA player just assumed he could rap (see Allen Iverson and Shaq). Sadly, Kobe can't rap. Although it's still fun to listen to because even after hearing this song countless times, I am still not sure whether or not it's a joke. I thought this song was suitable for this week because of Kobe's current off-court issues. I'm still waiting on Kobe's press conference where he admits to cheating on his wife with 100+ women but that all of the sex was consensual (too soon?)

Jovan:

Good Charlotte - The Anthem

If you’ve seen American Pie 2, you know this song. The music in the American Pie franchise is amazing and I’m always relating songs from certain bands to those movies. The Anthem is one of few Good Charlotte songs that I actually like (another good song is Last Night, which is played in the trailer for American Reunion) and it always reminds me of American Pie. It’s a good feeling – a nostalgic feeling – and I look forward to hearing some more great songs on the American Reunion soundtrack.

Desire - Under Your Spell

Under Your Spell is a terrific song from the 80s that demonstrates the quality and great style of music in that decade. It’s one of three fantastic songs that are heard in the soundtrack for Drive (the others two are A Real Hero by College, featuring Electric Youth and Nightcall by Kavinsky). There aren’t any current songs that can match the style of this song, and it’s expected as music continues to evolve. But I can tell you that there also aren’t many songs that come even close to having the charm and appeal of the three songs from Drive. I’m glad Nicolas Winding Refn made Drive.I’m glad that I was exposed to such amazing music.

Eminem - Kill You

Even though this song is completely different from the above two I have mentioned, it is one of Eminem’s best songs released during the prime of his rap career. The lyrics are very vulgar (Eminem’s 2001 concert in Toronto was almost cancelled because of this song) and I wouldn’t blame any girl for not liking this Eminem song, but lyrically, it stands as one of his best. The first verse is spectacular and flows very well, with much emotion being shown from Eminem (he yells in his current songs more often than before,but listen to Kill You and tell me he’s not yelling – Dre hasn’t been mixing Eminem’s recent songs which may be a reason as to why he’s seems to be yelling more). Marshall Mathers LP is Eminem’s best album (and it was robbed at the Grammy’s), and Kill You is definitely worth checking out if you have the album on hand.

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Gearing up for the NBAs nuclear winter

Tweet Here at Millennium (sande) we decided collectively not to write anything about the NBA lockout.  This was due to it being reported heavily and with great detail elsewhere and us adding our opinions would not have been a very interesting read.  Now that it looks like the season will truly be lost the time for silence is over and although other writers of this blog may not have much to say I do.  However, what I am about to write has nothing to do with talking about the lockout, if you want to hear an excellent, well thought out conversation about it, just listen to Bill Simmons's podcast.  What I am going to talk about is the big picture winners and losers of the lockout.  Lets get right to it

The Biggest Losers

There is only one group in this category and that is us the fans.  I'm not just talking about casual fans who will wait it out, I'm talking about guys like me who are watching classic games on YouTube and typing in 'NBA lockout' into Google news hoping something comes up that will save the season, no such luck yet.

The Losers

Apart from the players, David Strern, several owners whose franchises actually make money, and all of the other employees who are job-less as a result of billionaires and millionaires fighting over a few million dollars, here are some teams and players who will also be affected negatively by the lock-out in my opinion.

The Heat-If the season is lost that is one more year without these guys winning but more importantly they wont win anything while also not having an opportunity to build on last years success.  The longer this thing drags on the longer the chemistry the Heat managed to build up disappears and will have to be re-built again.

All of the up-and-coming talented players that essentially waste a year of their development because of this.

Dallas-apart from being a franchise that makes money, they do not get to defend their title or give their fans a ring ceremony, it wont feel the same in a year.

Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, KG, Pierce, Allen, Nash, etc.-all of these older starts who waste a valuable year of productivity.  The counter-argument here is that the rest might do them some good who knows?  But some of these guys I listed are approaching some important milestones which, in a historical context, would have benefited them greatly.

The Rookies-Imagine finally achieving your dream and having to sit through this shit and they are not even allowed to go back for another year of NCAA hoops, this is just sad.

The players who actually wanted to play and didn't even get a chance to have their say in the NBA's latest proposal, so much for democracy.

The In-between group

Lakers-On one hand their window for contending closes, on the other Dwight Howard could join this team as a free agent!  They also shed a year off of some truly awful contracts that they have and also hold off on the Mike Brown experiment for a while.

Spurs-A year off might be exactly what they need to re-fuel and make one final run with this group before blowing it all up.

The 'Winners'

Raptors-shed some brutal contracts and allow their first round pick to develop and start as an actual rookie instead of playing overseas for a year.

The owners who wanted to miss a season so they could save some money...lets move one

The Lawyers-some law firms stand to make a ridiculous amount of money from the amount of suing and counter-suing that is about to happen, expect at least a million articles trying to simplify and explain the process to the 73 fans that will still be around in January.

All players with long-term serious injuries that get to heal and rehabilitate.

The biggest Winner

Billy Hunter, who somehow gets to keep his 2-million dollar-plus salary even if desertification happens and makes all the headlines.  So he will be making money while the majority of the union he represents is losing it and this is fair how?  Shane Battier was right to ask Hunter if he was willing to forfeit his salary if it came to this so why are more players not demanding this of Hunter now that he has failed to negotiate a season for them?  That is all the complaining about this I will do.

Biggest potential story no one is talking about yet

Do you realize that desertification means that ALL contracts are void?  Do you realize that if the players follow through with their threats to dissolve the union that we are going to have an all-out free agent war whenever this is resolved?  You think the heat are a dream team?  How about the Lakers (and the money they have) getting the Heat's big 3 and matching it with Kobe, and Dwight Howard?  I need a drink.

“Wait since when do you cheer for them?" The band-wagon analysis

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 I really feel awful for true LA fans...Even their franchise knows that 90% of its fan-base are band wagon specialists.

If you follow sports actively and passionately no doubt you’ve experienced some pretty good highs and awful (and I mean AWFUL) lows as a sports fan.  Here are examples of my high (most shocking thing about that clip was Peja's rebound) and low... very, very low I did not watch the whole thing, just enough to make sure it was the right clip. These occurred within 3 days of each other and I was 10 at the time, but I can tell you every emotion that I went through, and where I watched these happen.  We can all agree that the highs are great, but the lows really do suck.  What makes the lows suck even more is when fans of the other team let you know what just happened, but this is fine, it’s a part of sports.  The thing that has the distinction of pissing me off and making the low even worse are special types of fans: band-wagon fans.  You know who this guy is, he was the first in line to buy a Lebron Miami heat jersey, he thinks Kobe is better than Jordan (I can’t even type that with a straight face)  His favourite NFL teams are the Colts, Saints, Patriots, Packers or who ever won the Super Bowl last.  He is quick to point out that he is a weird combination of a Barcelona and a Manchester United fan, and has been forever (or since 2007).  Lastly he was a Lakers fan in the early 2000’s (go re-watch some of their games; I do not think a more un-likable team ever existed).  In today’s world which is dominated by social media and you can get your opinion out pretty easily, it is very easy to spot the guy I just described.  During the NBA playoffs a guy who I have on Facebook went from cheering for the Celtics, to the Bulls, to the Heat to neutral (“I don’t mind Dallas!”).  Did anyone call him out on it?  Of course not, everyone else was a band-wagon specialist, and in this age, very few people born after 1990 are true sports fans.  When I say ‘true’ I mean you have a favourite team, you know about them and you actively follow them as best you can.  Personally, the teams I like have not had the best of times, Sacramento has not been relevant in the NBA for 7 years, the 49ers are an abomination, the Jays suck, and I do not really follow Hockey (but will, starting this year).  So when these teams are out of the playoff running right away; am I a band-wagon jumper for following another team?  Well, Yeah, but there are some key differences.  In this article I will outline what those differences are, as well as talk about the different types of band-wagon fans.  Now, before I get into it, I am well aware that Bill Simmons has written some pieces about this topic and I am sure many other writers have as well.  If anything here resembles other works on the Internet it is purely by accident (I can’t say I have read everything about this topic, therefore I don’t know what’s out there) and Full credit goes to those writers.  Now that we’ve avoided potential “You Copied sports writer/blog X” let’s get to it.  Starting in order from ‘acceptable’ all the way to ‘outrageous’.  Note: you can be more than one type of band-wagon jumper, it depends on the situation.