It’s time for me to embrace the B word. BLOG! They’re everywhere. Everyone has one. Not just celebrities. If you want to accuse me of stealing deadspin’s idea to do this, well I have no defense other than to say it’s a complete coincidence, and I already started working on it so it was too late for me to stop. I guess my point is that I am ready to embrace the blogosphere. I’ve spent some time at work scouring the NBA Blogs out there. And now, I will drag them down to my dirty little world. The Dirty 30 stays an order, but here’s a blog for each team along with either a comment on the blog, a description, or something funny. This took longer than it should have.
1 Detroit – (Detroit Bad Boys) Love the banner. My eyes popped open when I saw it. What do you do when writing about the best team in the game, running away with the conference title? Nitpick the small things like Delfino and Maurice Evans’ minutes.
2 San Antonio – (pounding the rock) A reference to the Popovich slogan about chipping away. This one reads almost like watching a post-game TV show. They’ve even got polls and other interactive things. Class organization, class blog.
3 Phoenix – (Rising Suns) For one of the most fun teams in the league, I really had a hard time tracking down a Suns blog that stays current. I’m settling for this one, but that doesn’t mean you should. Somebody write something. No, not you Paul Shirley. This is the ’06.
4 Denver – (Solid Gold) The author of this blog either secretly covers the Nuggets for a living, or he secretly writes at work while he should be doing his job. Lately it’s been focused on the superstar play of Carmelo, but doesn’t lose sight of the big picture, the Nuggets working towards a playoff run.
5 Dallas – (maverickisland) Mark Cuban has a blog you may have heard something about, but I’m going with this one. Unless I’m missing something here, it’s just a bunch of box scores, and hasn’t been updated in a while. But, like I said, you already know about Mark Cuban’s blog.
6 Miami – (Crazy From the Heat) Making fun of Andrew Bynum, back from an “Amish break.” I’m sure this blog will… insert phrase to use other than “heat up”, as the season goes on. The team is still a work in progress, so why not.
7 Memphis – (Beyond the Arc) One of the better researched blogs out there. The info is solid, and it’s written more as a daily column than a blog. And with the Grizz, everyone is on the block and nobody is untradeable, so they really need to be blogged like this.
8 New Jersey – (Joe Nets Fan) This is like it’s own TV cartoon. When Richard Jefferson plays, the Nets win. When he doesn’t, they lose. Caaaaan it be that it was all so, simple then?
9 Indiana – (Pacer Nation) It was kind of hard to find Pacers blogs, but here’s a good one. They haven’t updated in over a week, at least not as of the time I’m posting this. Mostly game previews and recaps, and a love for Danny Granger. Oh, and they’re waiting for some guy named Ron Artest to get traded like the rest of the world.
10 L.A. Clippers – (The Clip Show) I get the feeling the writer doesn’t trust the team to not tank it. We’ll call it guarded optimism. Hasn’t been update in a few weeks as of the time I am writing this though.
11 L.A. Lakers – (Forum Blue & Gold) The glamour team, celebs at every game, a blog that focuses on… stats and numbers? That’s so crazy it works. Who thinks of the Lakers like that? This blog is all about Pythagorean records and ratings. And surprisingly, not all-Kobe all the time.
12 Utah – (All that Jazz) This blog brings a lot of Utah optimism if you’re looking for that, and they love Jerry Sloan and Andrei and a few others. But it feels resigned to the fact that Utah will eventually fall out of the playoff race.
13 Cleveland – (Cavalier attitude) This one hasn’t been updated in a year, cause it says LeBron and Z are doing their thing, but they don’t have any help. Wait, I read the date wrong. They get extra points for breaking down Bobak’s Larry Hughes column line for line over the summer.
14 Minnesota – (GH and Petey’s Timberwolves blog) We’ll call this helpful suggestions for the T-Wolves. Rebounding is emphasized in this blog, hard. The guy seems to be a homer for his team, but he’s not blind.
15 Milwaukee – (fortressonfourth) This is more a traditional website than a blog, whatever that means. You can navigate here or there easily, but the main page seems to focus on the latest recap. We learn that the Bucks have had the dreaded closed door team meeting to fight a losing skid.
16 Golden State – (Golden State Warriors Blog) A professional blog. That’s the only way I can describe it. But they say they’re changing the name and moving on to something big. Judging by how the blog looks now, they deserve it. They also make fun of L’il Dun constantly.
17 Washington – (Les Bullez) This blog has a noticeably, let’s say pessimistic view of its team this season, but appears happy to be proven wrong by a recent winning streak. I can feel the pain when I read it, and really isn’t that the whole point of writing one of these? (That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m not exactly sure, but that’s one of my beliefs.)
18 New Orleans/Oak – (hornets247) Nothing has ever been more teal, but this is among my favorite NBA blogs. If you don’t think there are any Hornets fans out there, then you need to read. I think the author is a prosecutor or something, cause he is on the attack and he’s got the evidence for support.
19 Philly – (Sixers journal) Not as many 76er blogs out there as I thought there would be, but this one brought the passion, heat, and anger that I love so much about Philly fans. Are the Sixers mediocre, or a bad team with a great player?
20 Chicago – (blog-a-bull) Probably worn out from the latest Ben Gordon buzzer beater, this blog has been stuck in the past, as far as saying goodbye to the Baby Bulls and hello to the crossroads. This one seems to carry the title of best of the NBA blogs.
21 Sacramento Kings – (Sactown Royalty) As far as I can tell, this blog is just anti-Laker. But, if you scroll down past that, there’s stuff about the Kings and the timeless Kevin Martin/Francisco Garcia debate.
22 New York – (Knickerblogger) Pointed and direct. The Knicks weren’t going undefeated the rest of the way despite what people thought during the win streak, but now with Steph on the shelf for the first time in years, here’s who needs to step up.
23 Portland – (Blazers basketball) You run the risk of being hypnotized by the huge team logo wallpaper. This blog emphasizes comedy and the writer’s name is Lance Uppercut. Definitely the funniest of all NBA team blogs.
24 Boston – (Celtics Blog) All Celtics talk seems to be about trading Mark Blount. I mean, fans of the Celtics and Boston media types are really pushing this deal. Don’t know if other teams know about this.
25 Orlando – (orlandomagicfan.com) Straight news about all things Orlando Magic, including daily game notes. So, Steve Francis is back, though it felt like he never left. What was up with that whole thing?
26 Toronto – (Raptorblog) What gets a Raptors fan excited these days? The thought of Pape Sow getting called up. That, and blowing out the Knicks.
27 Atlanta – (hotlanta hawks) Click on the link to “A better Hawks blog” for some instant comedy. I’d call the writer a “sarcastic optimist” about his team.
28 Seattle – (Supersonic Soul) The slogan reads “The Sonics blog for the Sonics people.” After reading a few entries you’ll see that those people are collectively depressed. But the blog looks great, if that’s any consolation.
29 Charlotte – (bobcatsfans.com) It wasn’t easy to find a Bobcats blog, but this one has been picked up by NBA.com, so let’s call it the voice of the Cats. Where is Brevin Knight going? What’s the deal with Gerald Wallace and his injuries? Strangely those two players are at the top of the league in steals per game.
30 Houston – (Rockets Blast) It’s been a long year for the Rockets, and that’s definitely reflected here. So, apparently there’s something called the mostvaluablenetwork.com that has a bunch of team blogs on it. I wish I had just started there when I began this quest.
-SAM RUBENSTEIN
