Jerry Sloan - "most underrated" person in sports?

Jerry Sloan recently did something no other head coach has done in the history of the NBA. Sloan won 1,000 games as coach of the same team: the Utah Jazz. Other coaches have won 1,000 games in their career, but haven't won that many on the same team.

In Sloan's career, he has had only one losing season and one .500 season.

While driving to work this morning, Mike Greenberg from ESPN Radio mentioned that over the past 20 years, there is only 1 NBA franchise with more wins than Utah. The San Antonio Spurs.

I'm not sure that makes Sloan the "most underrated person in sports," but it is very impressive.

Iverson for Billups?

Today, the Denver Nuggets traded Allen Iverson, who ranks 3rd all-time in career scoring average behind Jordan and Chamberlain, to the Detroit Pistons.

The Nuggets get Chauncy "Mr. Big Shot" Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb in return.

The Nuggets will now have a true PG in Billups running the show, which will get JR Smith and Linas Kleiza in the game often. Also, with those shooters and Billups, Carmelo Anthony should face fewer double teams.

"Two teams had one common problem, or challenge," Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien said, according to AP. "I think the Pistons looked at Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, and you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way.

"We're just thrilled with the way J.R. [Smith] is progressing and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams."

On the other hand, I would expect Rodney Stuckey to have more of a prominent role with the Pistons, eventually stepping into the starting line-up. Although initially the starting backcourt will be Iverson and Rip Hamilton.

Isiah Thomas - overdose?

According to the Police, Isiah Thomas was brought to the hospital to be treated for an overdose of sleeping pills. What is strange about the story is Thomas is claiming it's his daughter - not him.

It "wasn't an overdose," he told the newspaper. "My daughter is very down right now. None of us are OK."

"My cops ... know the difference between a 47-year-old black male and a young black female," [Police Chief David] Hall said.

"It wasn't his daughter," Harrison Police Chief David Hall told The Associated Press. "And why they're throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand."

The police are calling the OD "accidental" so why would he throw his daughter "under the bus"? Parents are supposed to protect their children, aren't they? This makes no sense to me. But there isn't much that Thomas has done (post-playing career) that has made sense.

Antawn Jamison sprains knee

The Washington Wizards have one of the league's most talented trios of players - when healthy. Gilbert Arenas, who missed almost all of last year, is out until at least December.

Now, Antawn Jamison is hurt. He left the Wizards pre-season opener vs Dallas with a sprained knee. The Wizards played reasonably well without Arenas last year in large part because of Jamison and Caron Butler expanded their roles and contributions.

At this point, I would expect Jamison to be back in time for the regular season with a "sprained" knee.

Great Jonathan Bender story

Quick: What's the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Jonathan Bender? Was it "bust"? It was for me...until now. I love the game of basketball. But let's face it. There are more important things in life than basketball. That's why "bust" is no longer the first thought when Bender's name is mentioned.

Anna Katherine Clemmons ran a great story about Jonathan Bender in ESPN The Magazine. Bender, a phenom who skipped college to go straight to the NBA, scored 10 points in his first-ever NBA game to become the first-ever high school draftee to do so. Basketball-wise, it seemed to go down hill from there.

He averaged 5.6 ppg and 2.2 rpg throughout his career. His best year was the 2001-2002 season when had career-high averages of 7.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg.

But his NBA career pales in comparison to his budding philanthropical and entrepreneurial career.

...in New Orleans, with the Gulf Coast still struggling two years after Hurricane Katrina, he established the nonprofit Jonathan Bender Foundation and the for-profit Jonathan Bender Enterprises. With both, Bender's idealism has manifested itself through initiatives like adopting elementary schools, building real estate ventures and offering free finance classes for some of New Orleans' poorest residents.

...When Bender's Foundation adopted Joseph S. Maggiore Elementary School, Bender bought and distributed Christmas presents to the 430 students. But he also plans to establish an after-school program he named "Being Busy and Cool After School," where students will have 30 minutes of tutoring followed by lectures from professionals discussing their careers..."

"It's such a pleasure to see the things he's doing and how he's giving back," Willie Mae [Bender's mother] says. "I never thought I'd learn so much from my son."

Now when I think of Jonathan Bender, a different word comes to mind. Hero. Charles Barkley once said that athletes shouldn't be role models and I agree in general. But Bender is different. Like his mother says, we can all "learn so much from her son."

Josh Howard the Patriot

I think I've reached the point where I now just wonder what stupid thing Josh Howard will do next. After disclosing his preference to smoke pot in the "off-season" during the playoffs last season and being charged with "speeding (94 mph in a 55 mph zone), careless and reckless driving, and speed competition", he's in the news again.

For those who didn't see the story, Howard...decided Iverson's event was the appropriate venue at which to express his disdain for the anthem. Speaking to a cell phone camera while others around him respectfully stood in recognition, Howard provided an on-camera cameo that went something like this: "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this [expletive]. I'm black …"

Now he's known these days as the franchise's resident idiot, someone who is gainfully employed solely because of his ability to bounce and shoot a basketball. A character seemingly destined to embarrass his way into exile from a league that's garnered him millions of dollars because he won't stop perpetuating his ignorance and hostility to the masses, simultaneously casting an ominous shadow over his contemporaries.

Mark Cuban had an interesting take on it all. He posted on his blog e-mails he received from others and included their e-mail addresses.

I thought it was important to point out the hatred and ignorance of so many who quickly judge people they have never met, based purely on soundbites and headlines. If you think you know any public figure based on what you see on TV or read on the internet or in newspapers, you are sadly mistaken.

I wanted to point out the irony of them experiencing the onslaught of attention from suddenly and unexpectedly being placed in the media spotlight from a throwaway comment.

I still have a low opinion of Josh Howard, not because an "11-second soundbite", but because there has been a history of idiotic things he has done. I think Mark Cuban is a great owner, especially since so many owners care only about the bottom line and not the team's success.

Jason Kidd gives away Olympic gold medal

One day after reading about Jason Kidd switching from Nike to Peak, a Chinese company, Jason Kidd is giving away an Olympic gold medal to Elaine Wynn of Wynn Casino.

"Last summer, we stayed at the Wynn for (what seemed like) a lifetime, close to three weeks," Kidd told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "We met at a banquet, we got to talking, and she really understands the game.

"I told her I'd make a deal with her, that if we won the gold medal, I'd give it to her. She thought I was kidding. But I told her I had one already, and the way they treated us at the Wynn, it was the least I could do."

Call me skeptical (I've surely been called worse), but I can't imagine someone treating him so well that he'd give away an Olympic gold medal. There must be more to this...