NBA Parent Rank

While I look for my NBA Rookies tape, I thought I'd make a fun little NBA Parent ranking. These are just some people who've impressed, amused, or inspired me. I think they serve as a good counter-model to Hollywood/sports parents who, because of their child's earning potential, forget the role they're supposed to play. The parents listed here are also probably the closest to my Mom, who wasn't afraid to kick a little ass (both literally and figuratively) when need be.

I may revisit this list for future posts before the season starts. 84 days and counting...

Previous posts: Shirley Garnett, John Nash

Big Earl Smith and Linda Shanklin: The New Sheriffs in Town

Recovered post from July 13, 2005.

Iggy and Mom

I don't care if you're Andre Iguodala or Horace Jenkins. Your parents need to come with your ass to whatever city you end up.

End of original post.

So I thought I'd finish this post, but I have no idea what I was going to say. I vaguely recall that I started writing this after watching an episode of NBA Rookies and thinking that Andre's mom and JR's dad were two of the coolest, most level-headed parents around. I remember taping the show - this is before I went DVR - but I have like 30 tapes from the past 2 years that I'd have to go through in order to find that episode. Hopefully, a few of them are labeled. If I ever manage to find the tape and recover my train of thought, I'll finish this post.

The Best Show on TV

Have you been watching NBA Rookies?

It is laugh out loud, fall off the chair, and pee in your pants hilarious.*

In last week's episode, "All Star Weekend," we got to ride along with the rooks (Andre Iguodala, Emeka Okafor, JR Smith, and Devin Harris) to the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge, but more importantly, we were privy to their pre-game conversation. Here are some of my favorite nuggets:

• The boys were talking about their seasons up to the All Star break. Andre says, "We [Sixers] are shooting for first in our division." JR Smith looks at him and says, "We're shooting for 20 games." Guess what team JR is talking about. Yup, the Hornets.
• Speaking of the Hornets, Devin Harris started the conversation about guys getting 50, referring to the Dirk Nowitzki-Tracy McGrady shootout. Then someone asked, "Who'd Stoudemire have 50 on?"
  JR says, "Us," and then for good measure adds "I never guarded him."
  Andre asks him, "Who'd you guard?"
  "Van Exel."
  Pause. Andre's thinking and then remembers, "Van Exel had 36 that game, too!"
  Everyone starts cracking up and JR looks away and mumbles, "Yeah."
  
• They also talked about dunks - who they dunked on and who dunked on them (there's also a little montage to Chris Andersen's anti-performance in the Dunk Contest the night before). Emeka was the first to answer the question of whether he got dunked on. In this little voice, he says, "Turkoglu." (I'd whisper that shit, too! Freakin' Hedo!) He was like, "They put him on Sportscenter. Number four."
• The subject of books comes up. Emeka says he's reading Digital Fortress, a Dan Brown book, and asks if anyone read The Da Vinci Code. Andre and Devin pipe up and say they've read it and Andre says he's reading Angels and Demons now. JR, who's been uncharacteristically quiet up to this point, finally jumps in with, "Anybody read Spongebob yet?" (I'm not even going to italicize that. That ain't a book!) Then after Devin asks if they've read the "Laker book," JR says, "I read Harold and the Purple Crayon, dawg." I love JR Smith, but thank God he can ball because otherwise he'd be a very very poor man.
• And as promised, an Avery reference. The boys talk about coaches and assistants, and Devin, not realizing the Little General would soon become his permanent head coach, does a spot on Avery imitation saying, "I used to play so hard it was illegal." Poor poor Devin. At least Erick Dampier now has a permanent roommate in Avery's doghouse.
  

The show has made me absolutely fall in love with Andre Iguodala and JR Smith -- and not because of their basketball prowess either, but because they have the two coolest parents on the planet: Linda (Iguodala) Shanklin and Big Earl Smith. And that leads me to my next post...

* By the way, if you're under the impression that "laughing out loud, falling off a chair, and peeing in your pants" is just another of my many clever expressions, you are mistaken (this time, at least). It actually refers to my roommate sophomore year who did all of the above when racked with laughter...or booze. Why would any baller want to miss priceless memories like that to make millions of dollars?