By Sam Rubenstein

So yeah, KOBE has been the big story to steal from the actual Conference Finals games featuring the Spurs and Pistons among others. Why, this reminds me of every year around this time when other headline seekers use the NBA spotlight to hype up their name and value. Phil Jackson announced his return from sabbatical, for example. The coach of the Pistons at the time, who had his team playing in the Finals, may or may not have been ready to assume the title of Cleveland Cavaliers team president.

And now look at those greedy Memphis Grizzlies. MARC IAVARONI is going to coach the MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES!!! Come on, let LeBron play without stealing his spotlight. The same goes for the rest of the Cavs and Pistons. There will be NBA action on TV tonight, and that means at the very least there will be a short blurb about the Grizzlies new coach. So greedy, Memphis. Let someone else have the spotlight for once.

Now, I am of the belief that had Memphis not fallen out of the top two when beautiful lottery justice struck, they would have hired a certain former Knicks, Pistons, Sixers, Nets, Kansas, etc. coach to feel the praise when Oden/Durant turned the team around. Since there will be no Durant/Oden in Memphis, there will be no savior coach.

Therefore, it is still possible to cheer for the Memphis Grizzlies, or at least not have any more hostility towards them than you would any team you don’t care about either way. Good luck to Marc. He comes from the D’Antoni system and he’s replacing Toney Barone. Anything less than 120 ppg next season is a disappointment. Wins/losses? Eh, young coach, young team, loaded Western Conference.