I kinda like these local “teams” that NBA guys have been putting together over the last couple months to bide their time through the lockout. I say “kinda” because I like it when they actually put teams together with players who really are from that city, like Hakim Warrick did in Philly, as opposed to Carmelo Anthony’s version of “Team Baltimore” which included nobody really from B-More besides himself. Going with the true spirit of that theme, I also like the idea of “Team Atlanta” possibly coming together for a few exhibition games too, as reported over the weekend.
This from Alex Kennedy at Hoopsworld:
“Several NBA players from Atlanta are trying to put together a team to take on the other regional squads that have been assembled during the lockout. Josh Smith, Jarrett Jack, Anthony Morrow and Lou Williams have been working out together this summer and are hoping to assemble “Team Atlanta” in the near future. Eligible players would include Dwight Howard, J.J. Hickson, Al Thornton, Jordan Hill, Derrick Favors, Al-Farouq Aminu, Kwame Brown, Josh Powell, Jodie Meeks, Toney Douglas and Jarvis Hayes among others.”
With the exception of Kwame Brown obviously, this team would be pretty solid. The starting five of say Jarrett Jack and Lou Williams in the back-court, with Josh Smith, JJ Hickson, and Dwight Howard across the frontline, could be a starting five in the NBA for sure. It would be a pretty potent one too. Then Team ATL could bring in guys like Morrow, Favors, Thorton, Meeks and Jordan Hill off the bench and they’d be a legit ten deep. I’d be curious to see if any other true city based team could really even beat them to be honest.
If the Lockout ends up going for a while, I would thoroughly enjoy maybe ten or fifteen of these genuinely homegrown teams getting together for some sort of rep your city tournament. I know a guy named Young Jeezy who has a song that would work splendidly for the highlight film at the end in the same way CBS rocks out that One Shining Moment too. These types of teams would be pretty similar to soccer and rugby clubs they have over in Europe too, some levels of professional basketball over there as well. I’ve always thought that was pretty cool, guys from your city actually playing for your city, and it would be some great distraction from these labor talks if it happened.
Photo: NBA.com
