Mark Jackson fired as Warriors coach

After his third year as the Golden State Warriors coach, Mark Jackson was fired. Jackson was the most successful coach that the Warriors have ever had, but the general manager felt that "it was best to move in a different direction at this time." Jackson's three seasons with the Warriors will be remembered for the way he helped turn a perennially losing franchise into a consistent winner. The Warriors went 47-35 last season and had a memorable run to the second round of the playoffs, and they were 51-31 this season before losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. In my opinion, the Warriors made a terrible mistake by letting Mark Jackson go. Although he was fired this year, I know that Jackson will be back as an NBA coach and lead another team to the playoffs, or possibly a championship.

Kevin Durant 2013-2014 MVP

As I predicted in one of my earlier blogs, Kevin Durant won the 2013-2014 NBA MVP award for the first time in his career. Durant had the best season of his six year career, averaging 32 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. KD won the MVP very easily, getting 119 of the 125 first place votes. LeBron James had the other 6 first place votes. James agreed that Durant deserved the award, "he deserved it, for sure. It's big-time on his part. His maturity level went up every single season both on and off the floor." This is the first of many MVPs for Durant.

Michael Vick changes number to 8

Michael Vick has worn the number 7 on his football jersey since he was in high school. But recently he signed with the New York Jets and the number 7 was taken by Gino Smith. Vick used social media networks for his fans to help him decide between numbers 3 and 8. Ultimately, the fans helped him change his jersey number to 8.

NFL Draft

The 2014 NFL Draft is coming up on May 8. There is much anticipation on who will be the first pick by the Houston Texans. The top projected picks are Jadeveon Clowney out of South Carolina University or Johnny Maziel out of Texas A&M University. This is a very deep draft and this draft class has tons of talent. It should be interesting to see who goes where. Who do you think the Texans will select with their first pick?

SRU Intramurals

I am using this blog post to recognize Easy Threezy, the winners of the Slippery Rock University intramural Mug league, as well as winning the PIRSA West Men's State championship. I play on this team and we take pride in playing hard every second of the game. We worked very hard to win the SRU mug league as well as the state championship. Thanks to everyone that supported us and encouraged us! We appreciate it!

2013-2014 NBA Championship

As the regular season is winding down in the NBA and playoffs are approaching, there a plethora of teams that could potentially win the championship. The favorites right now are the Miami Heat, who could win their third title in a row, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Who do you think is going to win? I think that Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder will prevail and win the 2013-2014 NBA Championship.

Andrew Wiggins to Enter NBA Draft

Kansas star player Andrew Wiggins is leaving after his freshman year to enter the NBA Draft. This has become a popular trend amongst collegiate basketball players in the past few years. Wiggins is expected to be a top 3 draft pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Is Wiggins NBA ready or should he stay another year at Kansas?

Tanking in the NBA

Some teams in the NBA that do not think that they have a chance to win the championship lose games purposely in order to get high draft picks. This practice is known as "tanking." Teams do this in order to get better for the future, rather than worrying about the present. Teams with the worst records get the highest draft picks, in hopes to get the best collegiate players who are entering the NBA draft. It is unfair to the fans who spend their hard earned money on tickets and merchandise. On the other hand, teams could reward them in the future if they use their draft picks and salary cap wisely to build a solid team. The Oklahoma City Thunder built their team through the draft a couple of years ago by drafting Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden in three consecutive years early in the first round. These players eventually became stars and led their team to the finals in 2012. What are your thoughts on tanking? Is it worth the embarrassment to be better in a few years?

NBA MVP Race

As the NBA season is winding down, there is a debate on who will be the MVP for the 2013-2014 season. The two top candidates for this prestigous award are Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and LeBron James of the Miami Heat. They are playing for two of the top teams in the NBA and are considered by most to be the best players. At one point of the year Kevin Durant was the front runner for the award but LeBron has closed the gap and now they are neck and neck for the MVP. Kevin Durant is averaging 31.5 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, and 5.6 assists per game while James is averaging 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. These are close numbers but I think that Kevin Durant deserves the MVP this year. He led his team to the best Western conference record while his teammate Russell Westbrook was out with an injury for two months. Also, KD is more valuable to his team than LeBron James is. The Heat could still win games without him because they have the "Big 3" in LeBron, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade. Furtheremore, LeBron has 4 career MVPs while KD doesn't have any. KD is too good of a player for him not to have any MVPs. This is the year that Kevin Durant deserves to win the MVP.

Kobe Bryant should not return this season

Kobe Bryant injured his left leg on December 17th and has not played since then. He is still recovering and rehabilitating his injury. Kobe only played six games prior to his most recent injury after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon last season. He is still planning to return if he is cleared and is healthy enough to play, but I do not think that he should return. There is no point to come back and play for the team that has the worst record in the Western conference. He is also getting older in age and could possibly get hurt again. He shouldn't risk that possibility and should just sit the rest of the season out and continue to rest so that he comes into next season 100% healthy. Kobe is a huge competitor and will play if he is healthy enough to but it would be absurd for him to do so. If the Lakers were a playoff team this year then it would be a different story, but they are not so there is no point for him to return this year.

Introduction

If you're viewing this blog then that means you are in the Sport Management major at SRU. Welcome to Isaiah's Corner! In this blog I will be talking about all kinds of different sports and current topics in the sports industry. I'm a huge sports fan and my favorite teams are the Los Angeles Lakers and Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm looking forward to blogging, as well as viewing your blogs, and seeing the feedback that you guys give me.