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6 hours ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

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7 hours ago

5-on-5: Predicting All-Star Reserves

I was a panelist on the 5-on-5 today at ESPN, choosing reserves for the Eastern and Western Conference all-star teams. I took two Celtics, as noted below. Hit the link to read the rest. 1. Which East and West point guards should be chosen as All-Star reserves? Ryan DeGama, CelticsHub: East: Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo [...]

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2 days ago

Greg Stiemsma’s Contract To Become Fully Guaranteed

The C’s gave their 26-year-old rookie a vote of confidence before Tuesday’s game. By not waiving the seven-footer, Stiemsma’s contract will become fully guaranteed on Friday, allowing the shot blocker to breath a little bit and perhaps unpack some boxes for good in Beantown. Here’s Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston with some reaction from Stiemsma and [...]

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2 days 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: [...]

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3 days 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 [...]

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3 days 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 [...]

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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?

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