HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Jackie Christie

The new season is upon us and the summer break will be officially over. All the training that the players have put in over the past few months will now be put to the test.

More great news… The reinstatement of ref Joey Crawford. It’s going to be interesting as he has long been considered among the players (or should I say some of the players) as a very fair guy. I know for a fact Doug really likes him and he says he was always able to ask him questions during game. He would always tell him, “Yes, it was a foul” with a smile on his face. Hopefully he and Tim Duncan can put all that happened behind them.

On a completely unrelated note, I find it sort of alarming that Europe may now be stealing talent from the NBA. Back in the day that was not the case, but now with Euro teams catching up it seems like American players are more interested in going there. Doug was getting calls at the end of last season and over the summer to join some of those Euro teams, but he decided to hold off and see what his future with the NBA is. Many others, like Chris Webber, are thinking of making the move. And it will speak in volumes if they do!

The thought of giving up $63 million is mind-boggling, but the thought of playing ball under duress is probably even worse. So I guess Andrei Kirilenko must be in a situation that warrants this kind of move. The game should be fun and it should be something you look forward to doing. NBA players are highly-skilled professional athletes that have usually spent a great deal of their lives training for it. Yes, $63 million is a whole lot of money and most would not even think about giving it back once it’s theirs… But this takes me back to that thing called sacrifice. And in life, it is going to come up here and there. It must be chosen or not.

Doug was injured and needed surgery one and a half years ago and finally had it done, but only after he made the decision to sacrifice playing to go under the knife. He knew it would be a very long road back and now he is ready to go. The lesson here is this… All that glitters ain’t gold, so sometimes even in pro sports you have to make a decision to do what’s in the best interest of everyone involved – even if it means giving up the money.

This year in the NBA is sure to bring lots of surprises. There have been some really big moves over the summer – KG to Boston, the Rockets getting Doug’s former coach Rick Adelman and Steve Francis, Grant Hill to Phoenix… The sad thing is all this has been overshadowed greatly by the referee gambling scandal. I can’t help but ask myself… Back in the day when my husband played for the Sacramento Kings and they lost to the Lakers, was the game compromised? Well, I will just let sleeping dogs lie and think positive thoughts about David Stern and the NBA.

This is also an interesting year with the number of retired players trying to get back in the league. I truly believe that if a player takes good care of his body, eats right and stays in playing shape, he can play well into his early 40s. I live with an elite athlete in Doug so I’m able to witness first hand what doing all the right things will get you. The guys that have declared their interest in returning are all going to be great assets to any team they land on as they are all veterans with high basketball IQ and are in good shape. Experience is something a lot of teams in the NBA and those players can bring that and many other things to the table. I’m pretty sure Doug can.