Points in the Paint

» March 25, 2009 7:21 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com spoke with Larry Bird about his rivalry with Magic Johnson and how today’s superstars have become friends off the court: “‘I would rather have somebody to gauge yourself against,’ Bird said. ‘You might not win as many championships, but you’re sure gonna have a hell of a time when you get to the Finals.’ Given that, the way the rivalry between James and Wade has played out makes Bird scratch his head. Specifically, what happened during the 2005-06 season would’ve made Bird’s head spin — and probably Magic’s, too. The night before an epic duel on April 1, 2006 — a game both of them still talk about — Wade hung out at LeBron’s house. At his house! With his friends! The Cavs won 106-99, with LeBron (47 points) and Wade (44) going back and forth down the stretch. During the playoffs, with Miami waiting to face the winner of the Cleveland-Detroit series in the Eastern Conference finals, Wade was in constant contact with James — offering encouragement and advice on how the Pistons were defending him. Detroit won the series, and James returned the favor when Wade was battling Dallas in the Finals. Rewind 20 years to ‘86, when Sampson denied Magic another shot at the Celtics. Do you think Earvin was calling Larry to give him pointers? ‘I didn’t want to know anybody,’ Bird said. ‘I just wanted to compete against everybody. It’s different now, no question about it. … We shot commercials together throughout our career, but we didn’t go out to eat and we didn’t try to hang around with one another because of the edge. You always want to have the edge.’”

Bird on whether he still has the ring he received for playing in the 1979 NCAA championship game: “You know, I have no idea. I have had a lot of stuff I accumulated over the years and somehow it continues to be missing but just like I said when I won a championship in Boston a ring didn’t really mean anything to me, it was the banner that was hung in the Boston Garden that meant everything to me because it didn’t have anyone’s name on it, it just said the year, so that’s more important.”

Ivan Carter of the Washington Post: “Arenas, who told me yesterday that he’s not speaking to the media the remainder of the season — which is a good idea actually — walked past reporters and cameras without talking and then kept rolling as he was followed My take: He loves the attention, craves it in fact and he plays for an organization that has coddled and enabled him to the point that he knows he can do what he wants, when he wants and nobody says anything. That starts at the top. As one player told me recently with a smile and a shake of the head: ‘There are rules for everyone else and there are rules for that guy. That’s just how it is.’”

Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: “What Reggie Miller said on the TNT broadcast Tuesday night was what a lot of people, myself included, have thought and hinted and even wrote about — that Allen Iverson’s injury was more about a bruised ego than a hurt back. Here’s what Reggie said: ‘I’ve played a lot of games against Allen Iverson when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he is one of the toughest guys I’ve ever gone against. But having said that and knowing the information we know, what Arnie Kander is saying, it’s almost like (Iverson) is holding this team hostage because he cannot accept the responsibility of coming off the bench and that’s sad because he is one of the truly great little men we’ve ever had in the game.’ Kander told TNT pretty much what myself and others have repeatedly reported. Every test that’s been run on Iverson’s back has shown no structural damage. The original MRI that was done in Orlando at the end of February has never been disputed. Just last week the Pistons had doctors run three different tests and they all came back negative. But Iverson still complained of pain and numbness.”

SLAM’s Lang Whitaker put together a list of NBA players and coaches who are on Twitter. THE_REAL_SHAQ is 33rd in scoring and 15th in rebounding this season, but he’s leading the league with 414,596 followers.

Predictably, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich isn’t on Whitaker’s list: “I’m still on the fax,” Popovich said. “I do faxes. Faxes and letters. Sometimes my daughter will check my phone, and there will be an e-mail, and it will be from last Christmas or something. You could Twitter me to death, and I wouldn’t know it.”

Bethlehem Shoals of the Sporting Blog: “Why is it that sleazy guys can get away with things, while good guys fall faster and harder than anyone else? That’s what made the Kobe story such a bombshell — he’d been presented as this squeaky-clean, sponsor magnet, poised and well-spoken, and then everyone panicked when he proved to be kind of nuts and scary. So with Bosh, what if one of the league’s most affable, relaxed personalities turns out to be awful with family issues? Naturally, the two opposites collide and the world ends. That we can’t accept that good guys might have some negative impulses says more about us than it does the players.”