The Week That Was...

What a week this has been!

First Esperanza Spalding beats out Justin Bieber for best new artist, but that's okay, Bieber Nation, because I bet she's never been an MVP! Last night we saw Jevale McGee dunk three balls, Serge Ibaka dunk from beyond the foul line, Blake Griffin jump over a car...but finally we can get back to the most important topic at hand.

Where will Carmelo wind up?

'Melo, if you or your agents or your wife happen to be reading this, hold up! Before you finish packing for your move to one side of the Hudson River or another, I think you ought really consider staying right where you are with the Nuggets - and here is why:

For years, when anyone would analyze the relative strength of the two conferences, the West would come out on top - and that remains true to this day. But when you look further down the road, you may see a change on the horizon. In the East, the five top teams are Boston, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Chicago. The Bulls are basically a young team that could contend for many years. The Magic are young, and could contend for years. The Heat are young, and were built to contend for years. The Hawks should be in position to contend for years. Only the Celtics are a predominantly veteran team.

But when you look at the Western Conference, the opposite is true. As good as the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and defending champion Los Angeles Lakers are, they are much more seasoned teams than those younger teams in the East. Or more specifically stated, when Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kobe Bryant can no longer perform at the levels to which we have been accustomed, their teams will no longer be automatic title contenders. Among the top teams in the West, only Oklahoma City is a young team...which means that there could very well be opportunity for new teams to emerge from the West, in a manner that might not be the case in the East.

My belief is that the always tough-to-beat at home Nuggets - with Anthony, a still vibrant Chauncey Billups, a beast-becoming Nene, the improving Arron Afflalo, wild card offensive terror J.R. Smith, and contributions from Kenyon Martin, Ty Lawson, and Birdman, and perhaps a key free-agent addition - could make their way to the upper echelon of the Western Conference faster than the Knicks or Nets could with the addition of Anthony to their depleted post-trade rosters.

So Carmelo, you might consider calling off the dogs. As one young Dorothy found out, there's no place like home.

Open The Floodgates

Hey, I wonder how many people have thought about how ironic it is that when Cliff Lee takes less money than he would have gotten from the Yankees - and probably the Texas Rangers as well - to join (or rejoin) a team of superstars in Philly, he is hailed as a modern-day hero not all-consumed by the pursuit of the dollar - but when LeBron James takes less money to join a team of superstars in Miami, he is NBA Public Enemy Number One.

Funny thing is, that ain't exactly too bad for the NBA. Every promoter needs a Smokin' Joe Frazier to go up against Muhammad Ali, a Max Schmeling to fight Joe Louis, a John McEnroe to face Jimmy Connors, a Bobby Riggs to challenge Billie Jean King, a "Rowdy Roddy" Piper to call out Hulk Hogan. As a result of "The Decision," the Miami Heat are this year's Designated Haters - or better stated, the team we're supposed to be designated to hate. But that means they're the team we all follow, the team we must know the score for, the team whose clips we seek out on the highlight shows whether we are rooting for them or not. Much as David Stern claims not to have cared too much for the way "The Decision" was put together, it has worked out wonderfully for the Association.

But before there could be a Decision, there had to be someone who risked and or gave it all so that those who followed could have the ability to make decisions. Ladies and Gentlemen, please google Curt Flood.

Flood, a tremendous center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals (.293 lifetime batting average, three-time all-star, seven-time Golden Glove winner), had a crazy idea back in the late sixties. I guess one way to look at it would be to think about your own situation, in which you may have gone to various schools for many years in order to create a situation for yourself where you have options in terms of employment. Perhaps there came a time...or two...or three...where you thought you had more or less reached the end of the line with a particular employer...and because you had a certain amount of skills, you had the ability, as LeBron might say, to "take your talents to South Beach" - or anywhere else your services would be valued.

Unfortunately for the old school athlete, that ability was not in place, due to something called the "reserve clause" which essentially said that your team owned your rights until such time as they chose to relinquish them via trade or releasing you. So back in the day there was no such thing as free agency for athletes, no way for athletes to do the same thing you may choose to do at your job. Just because they are well-paid should not mean that they are without basic rights.

Curt Flood challenged this concept...and the fact that he did basically led to the end of his career, probably well before it should have ended and definitely before the reserve clause was struck down. So when LeBron, D-Wade and Chris Bosh team up together as free agents; when Carmelo Anthony refuses to sign a contract extension with any team willing to do a deal with the Nuggets; and even when Cliff Lee chooses, to the surprise of so many, to return to the Philadelphia team and area he had grown to love in 2009 - take that, W.C. Fields - these guys owe a debt of gratitude to Curt Flood (as well as Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, whose subsequent actions brought down the clause). Somewhere in heaven Curt may have been smiling as he watched "The Decision."