Cleveland says “Hello and welcome,” to Shaquille O’Neal.  The Cavaliers welcome the 7 ft. 1 in. Sixth Great Lake (formerly the Big Cactus) from Phoenix for Sasha Pavlovich and Ben Wallace.  We’ll see how much this is actually going to help put Cleveland over the hump as Shaq isn’t the young and dominant Diesel of years past, and with many NBA’ers pointing out that Orlando’s victory over the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Playoffs was largely due to the collective play of their long and athletic forwards.  The move, however,  may help to curb Dwight Howard’s significant inside presence.

Not to be outdone…the Orlando Magic made a splash in the trade market yesterday by acquiring Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from New Jersey for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie.  This move sends two major contributors to last year’s team over to the Nets for a big name with big scoring potential.  Despite Alston leading them through the post-season as their starting point-guard, the Magic are hoping for both a healthy and productive season from regular-season starter Jameer Nelson along with a quick transition for Carter since they might need him on the floor to replace play-maker extraordinaire Hedo Turkoglu (that’s for you Meestros, I know he’s your favorite) who may to be headed out of the door after this move.

And finally…the NBA held its annual draft last night.  Blake Griffin, from the University of Oklahoma, was the consensus number one pick, going to the LA Clippers.  The draft was not a particularly spectacular one.  The other names most fans were interested in seeing go (Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings) generated interest more for their respective unknown potential and groundbreaking situation than for solid, concrete evidence of future NBA greatness.  Of note, however, is the fact that the Minnesota Timberwolves took 3 point-guards with three of their first four picks, including two in the top ten overall.

Get Your Basketball On!

It hasn’t been all leather balls, wood courts, and hoops for those balls around here.  Yesterday saw the passing of two great icons in popular American culture.

Farrah Fawcett died yesterday after years of battling cancer.  She will probably be best remembered for this poster posed for in 1976.  She was a former Charlie’s Angel and had several other T.V. and movie appearances throughout her career.

This was followed by the shocking news that Michael Jackson (the King of Pop not the former Cleveland Browns wide receiver) died after sudden cardiac arrest.  I’ve heard many people point out the fact that there is not and has not been a more talked about person in the last 40 years.  Besides his lengthy and über-successful musical career, Jackson has had a highly publicized marriage with Lisa Marie Presley; he was accused, publicly, of child molestation; his physical appearance undertook several drastic changes due to a skin disease and major reconstructive surgery, and several other over-the-top incidencts which would lead us to cast out and ostracize most individuals long before we, the general public, were finally convinced as to just how troubled this man was, and even now, as I write this, I feel like the accusation of a troubled life is too harsh…he made Thriller. In any case, RIP you hot mess, and I promise never to stop until I get enough.

El Doctrine, Sports