Logo
The Ticker
4 hours ago

5 Questions With Kemba Walker

I had a chance to talk with Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker prior to the Celtics game against Charlotte on Tuesday night.  Here is what the UConn star, who is averaging 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game had to say. 1. How much communication have you had with Michael Jordan this year? Walker: [...]

1
1 day ago

I Am Awesome!

Yes. This is a “pat myself on the back” post because a) I’m a jackass and b) I predicted something correctly. Back on January 8th, I predicted that the next ten games will tell us everything we need to know about this Celtics’ team. If they struggled, it was time to blow it up. If [...]

1
1 day ago

Pierce Wins Eastern Conference Player Of Week

One day before he’s scheduled to pass Larry Bird for second on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list, Paul Pierce won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Pierce averaged 22 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four Boston wins, playing point forward in Rajon Rondo’s absence. Pierce is only 9 points behind Bird [...]

1
2 days ago

Garnett’s Wondrous 3-point Rant

Via ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg, who knows a great, playful rant when he hears one, here’s Kevin Garnett discussing his not-so-newfound aptitude for three-point shooting after the C’s took down the Grizzlies. “When I walk around the streets, y’all stop acting like y’all shocked that I can shoot 3’s. Everybody in Boston, everybody in the [...]

3
3 days ago

5 Questions With O.J. Mayo

I talked with Memphis guard O.J. Mayo prior to the Celtics-Grizzlies, Super Bowl Sunday game at the Garden.  Here is what the 4th year man out of USC, who is averaging 12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game had to say. 1. You started every game your first two years in the league, [...]

2
4 days ago

5 Questions With Landry Fields

I talked with New York starting guard Landry Fields prior to the Celtics-Knicks game at the TD Garden.  Here is what the 2nd year man out of Stanford, who is averaging 10 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists had to say. 1.  I’m sure you guys are frustrated with your record to this point of [...]

2
Browse Archives by:

My Girlfriend Loves Gregg Popovich and She Doesn’t Even Know It

UPDATE (5:55 p.m.): See the bottom of this post for new information.

My girlfriend is not from the U.S., and has occasionally chastised U.S. professional teams for declaring themselves “world champions.” She has a friend in Gregg Popovich. Here’s Pop discussing the C’s decision to label themselves “world champions” (via the Globe):

“Arrogant, don’t you think?’’ he said. “We were never world champions – NBA champions. Don’t remember playing anybody from another country and declaring victory in the world. ‘NBA champions’ is accurate, and what else do you want to be besides accurate and truthful in what you do? ‘World champions,’ it sends the wrong message. I don’t know if it’s a marketing thing, stubbornness, arrogance, or hubris. I was very thrilled to be a part of an NBA championship team.’’

He’s right, at least about the C’s declaring themselves “world champions” on their (17) championship banners. And he appears to be right that the Spurs refer to themselves as NBA champions instead of proclaiming global dominance:

Picture 5

A quick image search indicates the C’s are not alone among NBA teams in claiming that they have crushed all global competiton. Via the L.A. Times:

Picture 6And check out the United Center:

Picture 7

It would be interesting to see how teams in other sports (and across the NBA) deal with this. My guess is that it’s not a problem (to the degree that it’s a problem at all, really) in the NFL or the NHL, since they have championship games or trophies that ring off the tongue—i.e. Super Bowl XX champions or Stanley Cup champions. This may also be the case in baseball, since teams can claim to be “World Series champions” and have the international angle sort of covered anyway.

But “NBA Finals champions” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it? And the Bulls hybrid solution—NBA World champions—is a bit clunky, no?

So how should hoops teams refer to themselves? World champions? NBA champions? Something else?

Help me out here.

Update: Red’s Army chimes in with a link to a photo showing the Spurs’ first two title banners reading “World Champions,” and indeed, I found a few references to the Spurs changing their banners from “world champions” to “NBA champions.” Some posts/comments I found claim the NBA forced them to do it; others say Pop took the initiative to change it. Can someone give us a definitive answer?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>