The Wizards are hoping that a healthy roster, a few new additions and a new head coach will help the team get back to relevance and into the fairly stacked upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. But reconstructing a group that won just 19 games a year ago might be a project that will take longer than a single campaign to complete.
The good news is the Wizards have plenty of positives going for them as they head into the season.
Chris Andersen -- better known as The Birdman -- has a long way to grow before gaining the beard notoriety of The Hangover actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis, but I think he can pull it off (albeit in a light shade). In August, on occasion of his basketball camp in Denver, Andersen revealed to the Denver Post he would not be shaving his beard until his wedding in June 2010. Andersen even quipped that he was "the grizzly bird," which makes no sense until you really meditate on it.
I love Sports Illustrated's Players Polls, in which players (or sometimes coaches/executives) are asked their opinion on a league matter. The veil of anonymity and distributed disrespect allows a look into opinions that'd almost assuredly never get aired in the normal flow of the world.
With the Wizards getting off to a horrific 4-21 start, it's clear that some changes need to be made if this team is to even think about pulling itself together and winning some ball games. Since they've already switched out their head coach, all that's left is to start tinkering with the lineup. And DeShawn Stevenson has decided that he'll take on that responsibility himself.
Stevenson is second in the league in consecutive games started with 275, behind Tayshaun Prince's 380. But shooting a career-low 31.7 percent from the field this season, DeShawn has requested to come off the bench in hopes of getting his swag back.
"In a real team gesture he basically told me: 'Hey Tap, I'm struggling a bit, why don't you let me come off the bench and see if I can't get my swag back going against some second-line guys,' " Tapscott said of Stevenson. "I thought it an enormously gracious thing to say.
That is a pretty strong team gesture, especially coming from a guy like Stevenson, who has been known to pull more than a few stunts to grab his share of individual attention. But a deeper issue here is the question of why DeShawn had to bench himself if he was playing this poorly? Ed Tapscott is likely to keep that "interim" tag permanently if he needs his players to tell him when it's time to make a change in the lineup.
Gooden conceded by shaving over the summer, allowing Stevenson to show up to camp (mostly) clean shaven. Big mistake. The Wizards opened the year 2-12, prompting at least one person to blame Stevenson's noticeable lack of face fur.
After helping the Wiz pick up their third win last night, Stevenson is a believer. From the Washington Post:
He also heeded the advice of his mother, who told him he needed to grow back his beard to regain his shooting touch. The beard hasn't grown back fully, but for at least one night, Stevenson proved to children everywhere that you should listen to your mother.
"Yes. I'm keeping the beard," Stevenson said. "We got one on the road against a team we thought we gave away the first game. This is a new month. We are 1-0 on this month."
Oh, Zero. How you manage to always keep our attention.
Gilbert Arenas has come to be known as one of the most entertaining NBA players in media. He's always got something to say, and most of the time, it's interesting, even if it's a little played out from time to time. He's a character, and in a league that needs them, especially ones that stay out of trouble, he's a blessing of sorts. So it should come as no surprise that there has been discussion of a Gilbert Arenas reality show. In fact, Arenas was kind enough to talk about the idea that been broached with him on a recent appearance on the Big O and Dukes Show (via RealClearSports). Here's what Gil had to say:
"Ya know, it's funny. I got a -- you ever seen the show, 'Rob and Big?' The producers want to do a reality show on me -- the first NBA player to do a reality show. But then I thought about it -- I was like, my life is really not that exciting. Ya know, so, I'm thinking about it, because, ya know, I have players like Nick [Young], who's goofy, so we can do paintball shooting and see who can get hurt on the grotto jumping into the pool..."
So it definitely sounds like there's been some serious talk. And for all of Arenas' wishy-washiness about blogs and attention and whatnot, he loves being in the spotlight. And I'm the first to admit. If he's got a reality show, I'm setting the DVR. Maybe he can take Kwame Brown cake shopping. Or take DeShawn Stevenson to figure out he's not as good as LeBron James. What am I saying? I'd watch it just to see Caron Butler be Caron Butler.
Dan Steinberg, sitting in the crowd at USA-Greece, took some time to watch (multiple times, probably) and post DeShawn Stevenson's webcammed lip-sync of the new Usher song. I don't question Dan's priorities one bit.
This is exponentially more entertaining than Soulja Boy. And this director -- who barks pose instructions at DeShawn -- is well on her way to an Oscar (or at least a VMA).
In a move that is both awesome for NBA fans and terrible for NBA fans with families, the NBA has scheduled a quintuple header for Christmas Day. That's right, five games. Oh, so they probably overlap, right? Nope. There's basketball from 12PM EST till approximately 1AM EST. It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Starting you off on the long road to divorce and estrangement from your family is New Orleans at Orlando at noon. So after opening presents, enjoying your Christmas morning coffee, and inevitably calling your sister to ask why she hated you enough to buy your kid that obnoxious talking Monk doll or plotting to return the sweater that your grandmother got you for an iPod charger, you can sit back, relax, and watch Tyson Chandler and Dwight Howard beat the crap out of each other.
Then the blood rivalry resumes with San Antonio traveling to Phoenix at 2:30PM EST for what should be a warm and happy holiday greeting between the two teams as Amare Stoudemire tries to go Silent Night, Deadly Night on the team that's bounced him from the playoffs two years in a row, while Bruce Bowen attempts to give Steve Nash the gift he's never wanted, two severed Achilles' and a partridge in a pear tree.
Gooden looked strong early in the contest, with a bushy fullness far preferable to Stevenson's scraggy mess. But beauty is not an end, and apparently Drew just couldn't handle all that fur. It's too bad; media day -- with all its glorious photo ops -- is only a few months away.
Still, this loss of follicle madness barely registers in comparison to last summer's bombshell about the premature death of The Neckstache. Drew, please stop breaking our hearts.
The one-word answer to this question is a resounding "no," but let me get a few things out there before I get into my issue with David West.
I understand that the cheek-tap on Dirk in the first round was minor, and said so at the time. I also understand that this clip I'm about to show you did take place against the Spurs -- who are known for playing chippy -- and that a few words and clapping in someone's face isn't exactly the same thing as standing over someone grabbing your crotch after a dunk. I get all that. But I still find it annoying that David West -- who just became an All-Star this season and has only done so thanks to Chris Paul -- is now acting like a superstar who thinks he's the best player on the court.
Here's the incident with Oberto that occurred during the Hornets' Game 2 blowout of the Spurs. You can see (in super-fast motion) West clap in Oberto's face after the foul is called and have a few brief words with him as well.
I hate to break it to him, but West is basically the equivalent of the 2004 version of Kenyon Martin, albeit with a slightly better jump shot.
FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
NBA FanHouse walks through the 
I love Sports Illustrated's Players Polls, in which players (or sometimes coaches/executives) are asked their opinion on a league matter. The veil of anonymity and distributed disrespect allows a look into opinions that'd almost assuredly never get aired in the normal flow of the world.
With the Wizards getting off to a horrific 4-21 start, it's clear that some changes need to be made if this team is to even think about pulling itself together and winning some ball games. Since they've already switched out their head coach, all that's left is to start tinkering with the lineup. And 
Last season had no shortage of storylines, but one of my favorites was the 
Oh, Zero. How you manage to always keep our attention. 
