Jennings left from High school to play professional basketball in Europe so he has tremendous confidence which he parlayed into an NBA starting job. But his whining and angling will end up bringing on him more harm than good if, as most diva athletes do, he gets his way and is traded or given a huge contract by the Bucks. With a greater contract or trade to a new team will bring immense expectations by fans and the media–and most times either becomes like a hungry predator looking for the first mistake interview, tweet, bad day or bad game. An injury by Jennings or bad chemistry with a new teammate will magnify 100 times and the comfortable margin of error by playing in a small TV market will be reduced to little or nothing. Jennings won’t be able to escape anything or anyone and would only have his diva attitude and power play to blame. He is a very good NBA player who will perform for years to come–his plays constantly are on SportsCenter and NBATV highlights so he isn’t that unknown to a national audience. The money and fame will come without the diva-liciousness.

For example, “El Magic” doesn’t refer to a translation of any spanish phrase for a magician. The proper term would be Los Magos. The column refers to the Brewers and Giants who have Hispanic appreciation games where they wear jerseys with properly translated team names (Giants=Gigantes, Brewers=Cerveceros). In this case, the Heat would translate to “El Calor” and the Bulls would be “Los Toros” or simply “Toros”. The Spurs would be “Las Espuelas”–the translation for spur in spanish but naturally, that wouldn’t sell much so a figurative translation to “Los Vaqueros”. The Mavericks would be “los disidentes” or “the disidents” which signifies rebellious people. All in All, it is the Spanish-language announcers for the teams which use these “Noche Latina” translations to not divert away too much from the actual team while broadcasting the games. The promotion is a success and a majority of fans like the jersey changes.

They are really a  1/2 English/Spanish team translation and the NBA would be better off to do more homework to translate the jerseys properly. In the Hispanic community, many US born Hispanics call this “Spanglish”. Usually, Spanglish is used either to refer to a person who begins speaking English and mixes in Spanish words or vice-a-versa. It is funny but denotes laziness. If it is appreciation for the Hispanic communities and only for 15 or so games, then a complete effort would be better appreciated.

With this in mind we have seen a trend emphatically grow over the past few seasons with teams looking to the a long list of available and willing and able veterans looking for another shot to showcase their skills in the big show.  This season we have seen the Heat take a flyer out on Chris ‘Birdman’ Anderson, the Thunder gamble on the veteran legs of Point Guard Derek Fisher and the Knicks bring in Kenyon Martin for his energy, defense and rebounding ability.

So far all three of these seasoned vets has turned out to be a worth while gamble.  Anderson signed a second 10-day contract and has now been signed for the remainder of the season, Fisher doesn’t appear to be going anywhere and after last nights effort and play by Martin he too is likely to stick around until the end of the season.

The question that needs to be asked now is whether teams are better off signing on a “proven” veteran or try and find the leagues next big thing.  There have been some success stories of players signing on with some 10-day contracts and sticking around as a permanent staple on a teams roster.  Alan Anderson of the Raptors and Gerald Green both prove that by bringing in a D-League producing player their skills can lead to a steady producer not just for 10 days or the ‘remainder of the season’, but rather for years to come.

As the Playoffs approach and the time to set the seasons final roster comes upon us teams will need to do more than just plan for the present as they look to find the next big thing…But with that in mind, maybe it just makes sense to bring in a Vet who knows what it takes and will be the difference maker in a 7 game Playoff series.

The reasons are clear:

1. Lebron has won his Championship with Miami–he could spend the rest of his career contending for the Eastern Conference Championship and the NBA Championship (not just moving past the second round). The Heat are one of the best franchises in the league with a great front office, great owner and coaching staff. Lebron is beloved in Miami and he has two of the best players in the league on his team. He has never had it this good.

2. Lebron is getting older–If Lebron opts out in ’14, he would be starting his twelfth year in the NBA. He would go to a Cavs franchise that has always been eternally average. Kyrie Irving is a promising point guard but would be only in his fourth year when Lebron would arrive. The Cavs again would have to build a team around him as they did before. The fanfare of his return and the honeymoon with the press would last a short while before the losing began. Another move would take too much out of his basketball skills and he wouldn’t be able to produce.

3. Lebron’s lasting legacy–it seems that the current era of NBA athletes cares about their legacy and preserving it, polishing it and riding off into the sunset. If he were to return to Cleveland, he would ruin his legacy because the move would have been for all the wrong reasons. Especially, none that would be basketball related. After the disastrous ESPN special “The Decision”, Lebron suffered and even admitted his diva attitude made his life tougher. He has worked so hard to establish a legacy and seems to finally “get it”. In Miami, he could cement his legacy with a great team and franchise, adoring fans and perennial contending teams. He could have whatever he wants by re-signing and retiring in Miami.

Talking ball and expressing my feelings on anything and everything that is the NBA is what I am passionate about and what i enjoyed writing about.  Unfortunately, around 8 months ago, the pain from an extremely herniated disc in my lower back became far too painful to do anything except for wince in pain.  I was unable to live what most would define as a normal life and was relegated to the sidelines if you will.  Putting on socks and walking became a chore, so I hope it is understandable that I lost the drive to write and put effort into this blog.

Fortunately for me and through the love from many of my amazing family and friends, I can proudly say that I am on the road to recovery.  3.5 months after enduring a spinal disc laminectomy at my L5-S1 level on my spine I am back at the gym and preparing myself for the inevitable…a return to the court.

It’s been nearly 2.5 years since I last laced up my AI’s, posted up someone or even shot a ball on a court for that matter.  Now don’t get me wrong,  I am most definitely not Dwight Howard and there is no way that I could ever have expected to make a return to the hardwood 5 months after this type of surgery like he did.  After all, I am not a professional athlete with round the clock trainers and physicians watching my every move.   What I have learned from watching Dwight’s return to the court however, was that he just wasn’t ready when he came back.  His lacklustre play and lack pf physical dominance has shown me that before I even think about returning to the court, one must get himself ready…both physically and emotionally.

With that in mind, I have decided to start to express myself again and re-launch TheBowse.com.  It was something that I was passionate about before, and hope to continue being passionate about for a long time coming.

Thank you again for the support and LET’s DO THIS!