The Golden State Warriors came into the season looking to win back-to-back championships. At the start of the season, the Warriors went 24-0 to start the season, an NBA record. NBA analysts thought that the Warriors were going to break the 1996 Bulls record for the most wins in a regular season of 72 wins. The Warriors are the most interesting team to watch because they have the reining MVP, Stephen Curry. Moreover, the Warriors are a team that shoots a lot of three pointers per game, and they make most of the three pointers they shoot. After the All-Star break, the Warriors had a record of 48-4, and they needed to win 25 more games to break the record. The record is in reach, and the Warriors need to play with more urgency in order to break the record. In the last week of the season, the Warriors had a record of 69-9. If the Warriors were to lose a single game, then their pursuit of the record will vanish. In the last stretch run, the Warriors had to play the San Antonio Spurs, 2nd best team in the Western Conference, twice to end the season. In the other two games, the Warriors had to play the Memphis Grizzles, 7th best team in the Western Conference. The Warriors beat the Spurs with ease, but the Grizzlies gave the Warriors a fight in their first game. However, it all came down to the last game for the Warriors. They needed to beat the Memphis Grizzles in order to beat the NBA record for most wins in a season. The game was a blowout, and the Warriors have made history in front of their fans in Oracle Arena. It was a pleasure to watch the Warriors play this season.
Kobe Bryant will play his final game on April 13, 2016 in Staples Center. Kobe Bryant has played for 20 years in the NBA, and he only played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe will go down as one of the greatest basketball players to ever play this game. This date, April 13, 2016, was known as Mamba Day, to celebrate the legacy of Kobe Bryant. Many athletes in other sports showed their respect to Kobe by wearing Kobe's Nike merchandise. Moreover, many other athletes showed their respect to Kobe by talking in a video that thanked Kobe for the memories we've had of him. I came home from school, and I watched the pre-game show of tonight's game. The pre-game show showed memorable highlights of the "Great" Kobe Bryant. As I watched the highlights, I was reminiscing the times that I watched these games being played. Kobe has played with all his effort during his long tenure with the Lakers. Before the game, Magic Johnson gave a memorable speech preaching that Kobe is the greatest Laker of all-time. During the game, Kobe missed his first four shots, but as the game wore on he got into rhythm. Every time Kobe got the ball the fans cheered loudly. As I watched the game, I was anxious because the Lakers were losing throughout the game in the first three quarters. I really wanted Kobe to win in his final game because he is a winner. Kobe left it on the court as he scored 60 points, and he made the game winning shot for the Lakers in a familiar spot. After the game, Kobe spoke to the crowd, and he thanked the fans for all their support. Kobe will always love the people in Los Angeles. His last words were "Mamba Out". Thank you Kobe for all the memories you have given me.
The NCAA Tournament started on March 17-18. The first round of the tournament is called the Round of 64; in which, 32 games are played within March 17-18. As I was filling out the bracket, I picked Michigan State to beat the University of Kansas and win the National Championship. The NCAA Tournament is very interesting to watch because there are teams in the tournament that will pull off an upset. These teams that pull off an upset, are posed to be the Cinderella team of the tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, a team that doesn't play well for one game will leave the tournament because each round of the tournament is played to win or go home. I've always watched the NCAA tournament throughout the years, and I'm very impressed on how teams play with all their heart to advance to the next round. My bracket was demolished because the Michigan State Spartans, #2 seed, lost to Middle Tennessee, #15 seed, in the Round of 64 by the score of 90-81. The number 2 seed have never lost to the number 15 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I was really shocked that Michigan State had lost in the first round of the tournament. I expected Michigan State to dominate the tournament to win the National Championship.
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are two of the greatest basketball players to ever play this game. They have played many games against one another that have left a lasting impression. Kobe has won 5 championships, and LeBron has won 2 championships since the year 2000. They both have dominated the NBA based on their outstanding skills and abilities. I'm a really big fan of Kobe because he has stayed with the Los Angeles Lakers throughout his career. Although LeBron is a great player, I disregard LeBron's greatness because he left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat to win championships with another superstar. Moreover, after winning the two championships, LeBron decided to return to his hometown team in Cleveland to compete for a championship. Kobe and LeBron have competed 22 times against each other, and LeBron has won 16 of these match ups. On March 10, 2016 Kobe will face LeBron for the last time in Staples Center. In their last match-up, Kobe Bryant scored on LeBron James multiple times during the first half. However, LeBron James had an amazing dunk during the game, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won the game by the score of 120-108. Kobe scored 26 points while Lebron scored 24 points. I will miss Kobe playing LeBron two times a year. #ThankYouKobe
The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Santa Clarita, California to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Both the Broncos and the Panthers were the number one seeds in their respective conferences. The Broncos have won two previous Super Bowls in their history; however, the Panthers have never won the Super Bowl in their only appearance in 2003. The game featured two great quarterbacks: Peyton Manning, an all-time great, and Cam Newton, a young star. Cam Newton won the 2015-2016 MVP award for an outstanding season statistically for a quarterback. I thought that the Carolina Panthers were going to win the Super Bowl and dominate the Denver Broncos; however, the Denver Broncos played with more eagerness and determination to win their 3rd Super Bowl. Carolina's offense couldn't produce any points because the Broncos defense kept putting pressure to Cam Newton. Von Miller, an outside linebacker, lead the Denver Broncos with 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles to win Super Bowl MVP. In my opinion, I thought the game was very boring because these teams didn't generate any type of offense throughout the game. I was very disappointed with the result of the game because I expected more out of the Carolina Panthers. I think that next years Super Bowl will be more compelling to watch.
The 2016 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest was held on Saturday, February 13. Participants of the Slam Dunk Contest were Zach Levine, last years champion, Aaron Gordon, Andre Drummond, and Will Barton. I wasn't expecting a great Slam Dunk Contest because I thought that Zach Levine was going to repeat as champion. In years past, the Slam Dunk Contest's were not entertaining to watch because the slam dunks were not spectacular. However, this years slam dunks were spectacular to watch and it will be remember for years to come. Aaron Gordon and Zach Levine put on a show for the fans with their spectacular dunks. They both scored multiple 50 dunks on their dunks for a total of 8 perfect dunks in the contest. Zach Levine's best dunk was the one step over the FT line added with between the legs. Aaron Gordon's best dunk, arguably the best dunk of the night, was jumping over a mascot, while changing hands under the legs and backwards. In the final round, there were a total of 4 dunks and Zach Levine won Aaron Gordon 200-197. Gordon could've tied Zach Levine at 200 with a score of 50, but he got a score of 47 in his final dunk attempt to earn a score of 197. Honestly, I think that both Zach Levine and Aaron Gordon should've won the Slam Dunk Contest because they both had amazing dunks that will be remembered in history. However, there can only be one winner and Zach Levine prevailed to win the title in an outstanding Slam Dunk Contest.
The fans voted the 2016 All-Star game starters just this past week. The All-Star game reserves were selected by the league this past Thursday night. The All-Star game will be played on February 14 in Toronto, Canada. This is the first time that Toronto will be hosting an All-Star game in their history. The fans are a huge part of the All-Star game because the fans vote for the starters of this game, meaning that the players with the most votes will start the game. However, many NBA analysts dislike the idea of fans voting, due to the fact that fans don't vote for the best players of the season they vote for their fan favorites. Charles Barkley, an analyst from TNT, thinks that the fans are contemptuous towards the All-Star game. For instance, Kobe Bryant playing on his last season had the most votes, but he hasn't played in at an All-Star level this season. This is a big problem because there is one good player being left out of the All-Star game. However, this is Kobe's farewell tour and he needs to be present in this game because he has had a historic career. The most notable players selected to the All-Star game are Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, and Russell Westbrook. DeMar Derozan and Kyle Lowry will have the pressure to represent the host city, being that they are from the Toronto Raptors. The All-Star game is full of stars, so it's going to be an electrifying game on Valentine's Day.
The 2016 Pro Bowl will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii. Last year,o the game was held in Phoenix, Arizona. The Pro Bowl features the NFL's best players at their perspective positions throughout the season based on their statistics and durability. Each team will have one pro bowler being selected to participate in the Pro Bowl. The most players selected to the Pro Bowl were the Carolina Panthers, the NFC champs, which 10 players were selected to participate. There were multiple teams where 1 player from each of the respective teams were selected to participate in the Pro Bowl, for example: the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and the Jacksonville Jaguars. My Kansas City Chiefs had 6 players going to the Pro Bowl, Travis Kelce, Tamba Haili, Eric Berry, Justin Houston, Marcus Peters, and Derrick Johnson. The Pro Bowl has not gain the popularity that it deserves due to the fact that players don't play with the same intensity as they do in the regular season. The defensive players don't want to injure the offensive players in an All-Star game. Although the Pro Bowl is a high scoring game, many fans want to see hard hits and plays that have a great impact during the game. In my opinion, I think the Pro Bowl is very entertaining to watch, but I also think there are many improvements that the game can make. It's very imperative for the NFL to listen to its fans to make improvements in this game, so that fans can be intrigued and entertained to watch this All-Star game.
This past Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round 27-20. The Chiefs came into this game with a 12 game winning streak. The Patriots were the defending champs and were the #2 seed in the AFC. The Patriots were leading the Chiefs 14-6 at the end of half time. The Chiefs didn't take advantage of opportunities in the red zone to score touchdowns; instead, they kicked two field goals for 6 points. The Chiefs leading receiver, Jeremy Maclin, had a mild high ankle sprain in the Wild Card Game. Although, Maclin did not attend practice throughout the week, there was still a good chance that he would play against the Patriots. However, once the game began, It was noticeable that Maclin was not at 100% in health. As a result, Maclin did not prove to be a great factor in the game. In the beginning of the 3rd quarter, with the Chiefs down by 8 points, it was imperative for the Chiefs to score in this drive. Driving to score with the ball in his hands, Knile Davis of the Chiefs, was stripped of the the ball causing a fumble which was then recovered by the Patriots. After this costly turnover, the Chiefs never had the opportunity to come back and win the game. This Chiefs team overcame adversity after adversity when they started 1-5 in the season. Since that start, the Chiefs won 11 streak games with their strong defense.
The Kansas City Chiefs came into the 2015-2016 playoffs with an eight game playoff losing streak that started in the 1994 season. Kansas City fans have been contemptuous to this franchise with all these playoff loses and one might think when will this streak end. I have witnessed this close call in the 2013 playoffs; the Chiefs were leading the Colts 38-10 in halftime. I thought that the Chiefs were going to win and end their losing streak. However, the Colts played their heart out in the second half to come back and to take the lead from the Chiefs 45-44 with 5 minutes remaining. The Chiefs had the ball in the Colts 45 yard line and it was 4 and 10, Quarterback, Alex Smith, threw a deep pass to Dwayne Bowe down the sideline. Bowe caught the ball but he stepped out of bounds during the catch. After looking at the replay, the evidence showed that Bowe had caught it out of bounds. I was deeply depressed after this game. This years team is different from the years past. I had a strong hope that the Chiefs were going to win a playoff game. The Chiefs were going to face the Houston Texans in Houston in the Wild Card Round. The Chiefs had already beaten the Houston Texans in the first game of the 2015-2016 regular season, 27-20. This playoff game was the best game I ever watched because the Chiefs dominated the Texans once the game started as the Chiefs won 30-0. The Houston Texans committed 5 turnovers to prevail the Chiefs to victory.. At last, the Chiefs have won a playoff game and have ended this playoff game losing streak.
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October 2015
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