The great Kevin Johnson retired after the '99-'00 season. Along with Larry Bird, KJ is my favorite non-Maverick NBAer of all time. Dude was special, went 20 PPG and 10 APG four years in a row. He also had two 19/10 seasons. He was 6'1", but has three of the greatest dunks of all time. Check 'em out on YouTube- over Hakeem(yeah, Hakeem Olujawon), Hot Rod Williams, and 7'5" Mark Eaton. You know how Chris Paul just takes over games with that mid-range jumper? That was KJ, you had to give him space or he'd cross you over and drive the rim...'92-'93 was the year KJ and Barkley shoulda won a title. They lost the first two to Jordan's Bulls, and then won Game 3 in triple OT behind KJ's 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists in 62 of a possible 63 minutes. Bulls took it in six, winning that last one 99-98. John Paxson hit a three with 4 seconds left to win it. That was the only Bulls' points scored by someone other than Jordan in the entire 4th quarter. Game 7 woulda been in Phoenix...oh well.

Anyways, my modern-day KJ is Joakim Noah. Holy shit, I love watching this guy play. The 2 national titles at Florida were just a primer for how much I'd like this guy. I remember after one title, when they went to the White House, Noah showed up wearing a dashiki and sandals...Fuck stupid protocol. Now in the NBA he's just a fuckin' warrior on the court. Dirk tweeted last nite that he was a beast. I once worked a Mavs-Bulls game doing some audio/video for FSSW. Anyways, there was like 4 hours down time between setup and game time, so I sat in the arena and watched the Bulls early shootaround. An assistant had Noah running sprints and he seemed to be doing them at the slowest, laziest pace possible. He was crackin' me up, bitchin' about the tedious task. Come game time, dude had more energy than anyone. Must be those tennis bloodlines.

Last nite he went for 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocks in the Game 7 victory over the Nets. The entire second half I just isolated on him. The help defense, switching, boxing out, offensive cuts, etc. were just a joy to watch. Try it out in this Heat series, it's something. LeBron is probably gonna play the role of Jordan and end Joakim's run, but Noah gonna bring it...