Are you sure you wanna be like Mike?

Michael Jordan was inducted into the basketball hall of fame last week with John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, and C. Vivian Stringer. This is widely considered to be the greatest hall of fame class to date, in large part because this is the year that Air Jordan takes his final bow and becomes immortalized as the game's greatest player. On a night to be thankful and appreciative, Jordan was nothing short of spiteful and vindictive. Mike's 23 minute speech took shots at everyone from his high school coach and teammate to his college coach to Bull's management. Anyone and everyone who had ever doubted MJ's skills, or criticized his game, or looked at him the wrong way came under fire during the speech. Not even Jordan's kids were safe on this night. Michael mentioned his kids once throughout the whole speech and all he said was that he'd hate to be them. Yeah I'm sure it sucks to be the son of his Airness, but you don't say that to your kids and you certainly don't say that in your hall of fame speech. This is the real Michael Jordan, no script, no PR guys, just pure MJ. As a kid I was a huge Jordan fan, I collected Jordan cards, I taped every Bulls game that was on TV, I even used to stick my tongue out when I played basketball because I wanted to be like Mike. Michael Jordan the basketball player, is the greatest of all time, the same cannot be said for Michael Jordan the person.

Iverson to Memphis?

Allen Iverson has been in negotiations with the Memphis Grizzlies since the start of the free agent period, but Monday was the first time the two sides have met in person to discuss the possibility of Iverson joining the Grizzlies. A.I. met with Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, coach Lionel Hollins, and GM Chris Wallace. It is believed that the Grizzlies offered Iverson a one year, 3.5 million dollar deal but Iverson has not accepted the contract as of yet. If Iverson does end up joining the Grizzlies, he will be joining a young team with lots of young talent. Memphis already has Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol, and added Zach Randolph this off-season. A.I. has a reputation for being a selfish player who needs to dominate the ball in order to be effective, which is not exactly the type of player you want as a role model for a young team. Even though Iverson is past his prime, he still draws a crowd and sells tickets, which is something the Memphis organization needs desperately. The Memphis fan base is not very large and adding a player like Allen Iverson is sure to increase ticket sales. The Grizzlies seem to be the only team actively pursuing Iverson and a deal with him looks to be imminent. If Iverson does sign with Memphis, as most people expect, then the Grizzlies will be an intriguing team this year.

Update: Iverson has agreed to a one-year deal worth 3.5 million dollars plus incentives. Iverson will join the free agent class of 2010 featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh meaning he will most likely be waiting until this time next summer before signing another contract.

Beasts in the East

Who will emerge as the team to beat in a very top heavy Eastern Conference?

As a follow up to my article on the best teams in the West, I'm going to take a look at some changes in the Eastern Conference and give my opinion on who's the early favorites to be Conference champs. We'll start with the team that had the best record in the league last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs have made some significant changes this off-season even though they finished with the league's best record a year ago. The most notable move made this summer may very well have been the acquisition of the Big Diesel, Shaquille O'neal. Cleveland gave up very little to get Shaq from the Suns and although O'neal isn't as dominate as he once was, he still commands a double team in the post and is a great passer for a big man. The Cavs also added some key role players in Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe. If LeBron can learn how to play off Shaq and Shaq can learn how to play off LeBron then the Cavs will be a tough out in the Playoffs.

Boston Celtics
The key for the Celtics this year will be keeping their stars on the court. The "Big Three" of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett are all on the wrong side of 30, but if they can stay healthy they are a very dangerous trio. Add to that Rasheed Wallace, who can be a great player when he's focused, and Marquis Daniels, a combo guard with good size and strength, and the Celtics could be fighting for the number 1 seed in the East.

Orlando Magic
Last year's Eastern Conference champions made some fairly significant roster moves over the summer. The Magic lost Rafer Alston and Hedo Turkoglu, two key contributors from this past season. They added the still explosive Vince Carter to replace Turkoglu and acquired some key role players in Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Anderson. If Jameer Nelson can return to his All-Star form then the Magic have got a great chance to repeat as conference champs.

Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks have finished 4th in the East each of the past two years and that's where I expect them to finish again this year. The Hawks added Jamal Crawford over the summer and he should be able to give them some instant offense off the bench. Crawford is a creative scorer and a good three point shooter. If Joe Johnson and Josh Smith continue to improve then the Hawks have the potential to give some teams some trouble in the Playoffs.

The East looks to be a three horse race this season with either the Cavs, Celtics, or Magic taking first place. Any of those three teams have a legitimate chance to win the championship this year, we just have to wait and see how it all plays it out. It should be a fun year in the East.