Πώς ήταν οι παίχτες του ΝΒΑ όταν ήταν παιδιά; Η απάντηση στο παρακάτω βίντεο…

Οι καλύτερες φωτογραφίες κατά τη γνώμη μου… αυτές του KG, το ύφος του Wade, το μαλλί του Kidd..

La cadena estadounidense de supermercados HEB se ve que puso mucho dinero para contratar a cuatro jugadores del equipo de la NBA San Antonio Spurs para filmar varias publicidades que tienen como protagonistas a Manu Ginóbili, Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen y Brent Barry.

La idea de todas las publicidades son graciosas, pero nosotros nos inclinamos por esta. Esperemos que la disfruten!

Waiting for our basketball team´s fundraiser party, I have been checking some classic NBA clips. I have always appreciated aggressive defensive players:

Team History:

The Spurs have a long and illustrious history dating back to the ABA, unapologetic Afros, short shorts, and a style of playing basketball built to purely entertain. This is of course in reference to George Gervin and his gorgeous finger roll that has since inspired a new generation of flair, much like Kareem’s sky hook or Dr. J’s gliding through the air.

The most successful part of the Spurs’ history has been its most recent. David Robinson, the recently Hall-of-Fame inducted center, carried San Antonio for a healthy portion of two decades, ultimately failing to capture a championship by his lonesome.

Then, out of some weird combination of fate, luck, and injury, the Spurs were handed an ultra talented big man out of Wake Forest like a newborn baby from the delivery doctor. Who was that big man? It was none other than Tim Duncan.

With the newly formed duo of Robinson and Duncan, the Spurs would go back onto their quest for Western domination. With Michael Jordan retiring from the league the second time in 1998, the Spurs would go on to defeat the New York Knicks in the Finals.

Since then the Spurs have routinely been a competitor for the top spot in the league, winning three more championships in 2003, 2005, and finally in 2007. In fact, it was surprising that the Spurs didn’t continue this trend of winning every other year when they lost in the playoffs this most recent season.

2008-09 Record: 54-28 (1-4 in playoffs), 1^st place in Southwest Division, 3^rd place in the Western Conference.

Coach: Gregg Popovich

Projected Lineup:

• PG: Tony Parker – Mr. Eva Longoria is one of the top point guards in the NBA (duh). The Frenchman has routinely been a top performer at the point guard spot, only bettered by Paul, Williams, Nash, and Billups on a handful of nights. His quick cuts to the basket carried the Spurs last year when Duncan and Ginobili were hurt, which was a long period of the season.
• SG: Manu Ginobili/Anthony Mason – I don’t know why or how Popovich does these things, but they seem to work. He doesn’t start Ginobili, preferring to have Manu provide a spark off of the bench. Mason isn’t without his talents, as was displayed with his numerous game winning buzzer beaters. Either way, with Mason or Ginobili starting the Spurs are solid at the shooting guard spot.
• SF: Richard Jefferson – The move to trade for Jefferson has been widely hailed as a brilliant coup by mastermind Popovich. He is seen as the player who makes the Spurs younger, more athletic, and all around better. He certainly has enough offensive skills to help take the load off of Parker, Duncan and Ginobili. Given all of that, he will be expected to fill the defensive shoes of Bruce Bowen, which in recent years were based more on reputation than by actual skill.
• PF: Tim Duncan – The greatest power forward of all time. There, I said it. Now I can’t argue against Karl Malone or Bill Russell as the best, but you can’t argue against Timmy as the best. He is simply perfect, in all aspects that one could expect from a power forward. He rebounds, defends, scores, passes, and leads as well as anyone else in the league. He is superhuman with the modesty you would expect from a player with much less skill.
• C: Antonio McDyess – Will he continually play the center for the Spurs? Probably not. More likely than not he will shift to the power forward slot with either Duncan or the rookie Dejuan Blair filling the center spot. He is a solid player who played a significant role in the recent Pistons teams, even though they were annually disappointing.

Key Gains:

• Antonio McDyess – see above. He figures to play a significant role for the Spurs, why else would he go there?
• Dejuan Blair – It is universally believed he will be the player that every other team will regret passing on when they think of the 2009 NBA draft. He is a bruising, physically punishing forward/center who has a tendency to dominate opponents who are not as physically suited as he is.
• Richard Jefferson – see above. Jefferson is viewed as the missing piece that the Spurs needed last year, which is kind of false. They needed to be healthy, but this addition wont hurt.

Key Losses:

• Bruce Bowen – The veteran forward was a defensive menace, even if he played a little dirty. Since being traded to the Bucks, he has retired. His presence will surely be missed on the Spurs, who have been attached to Bowen at the hip for a long time.
• Fabricio Oberto – This shifty big man might not be great, but he filled a role. At times I get his play confused with Luis Scola. Oberto was an agile big man who could pass excellently, which was a tremendous complement to Parker, Ginobili and Duncan.

Season Preview:

I am high on the Spurs this year. But, so is everyone else, which makes me regret my fascination because I think that I am just another person on the bandwagon instead of a trailblazer. It isn’t unique to think the Spurs are going to have a successful season, but seeing as how they haven’t won a championship in all of two years, they seem to be due for one.

The key to the Spurs’ season is the same as every other team: staying healthy. If Duncan can overcome his injury problems he had the last couple of years, and if Ginobili can manage to not get hurt, and Parker stays the same, and Blair becomes the player everyone envisions him being, then the Spurs are a lock to win it all.

I have predicted in the recent past that the Spurs will be going to the Finals this year. I will stand by that prediction because I can’t envision the Lakers maintaining their dominance another year. That is not entirely true, I can envision it, but I can just as easily envision the Lakers suffering an injury or experience inner turmoil with the addition of Ron Artest. Beyond that, Artest seems no longer capable of being the lockdown defender of wing players like he used to be, which would relegate Kobe to the opponent’s best offensive player. The wear and tear can only benefit the Spurs who will do as they always do, which is win a lot of games.

What does that ultimately mean? I would guess near 60 wins, as was the case last year. Only this year, the Spurs’ playoff chances will be significantly increased, and I would say a visit to the Finals should be nothing less than expected for this team comprised of veterans and at least one Hall of Fame caliber player.

Quote This:

“TD [Tim Duncan] is healthy and Tony [Parker] is in good shape”

-Manu Ginobili

Bonus Quote:

“If you think Tony Parker is better than Manu Ginobili, you need to stop drinking before you come in here.”

-Pounding the Rock

Last week I was in San Antonio, Texas to photograph the 2009 National Sales Meeting for Pepperidge Farm. My cousin, Jay, works for Pepperidge Farm and because he put in a good word for me, they decided to hire me as the photographer for the week long event! So a big thank you to Jay!! I am posting a lot of the photos from the Tuesday night Kickoff Event because those are the most fun But I also posted a few from the actual meetings and from the Merit Awards Dinner/Event. Enjoy!

They brought in a Longhorn!

…and had armadillo races!

The amazing group of people that I worked with for the week! you guys rock!!

Vice President of Sales, Mark Schreiber:

President of Pepperidge Farm, Pat Callaghan:

Paul Amorello was ready to get the party started a bit early! hahah:

Retired NBA Star, Bruce Bowen, stopped by as well:

While doing my daily internet surfing, I found this pretty cool video that shows what a bunch of the league’s top stars looked like when they were kids. Yeah, as I watched this I began to think, “Maybe this is a little creepy?” Oh well, the internet is a haven for creeps and creepy activity, this isn’t so bad then, is it?

The video features Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, James Posey, Devin (or Devon as the video creator calls him) Harris Dwayne Wade, Yao Ming and many more.

Considering it’s a bunch of baby pictures, I thought the soundtrack of the video, “Dream On,” by Aerosmith was a little intense. I would have preferred “Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston.

Thanks, kane38885

Defense is a tricky thing. It’s a vital part of any sport, but most athletes tend to focus on perfecting the offensive side to reach the top of their game.  With the recent news of defensive great Bruce Bowen retiring from the NBA I thought it would be appropriate to write a tribute to those exhibiting tenacious D.

The fundamentals of defense change quite a bit depending on the size and position of a player.  While big men focus more on blocking the ball, preventing the post-up, back door cuts, and easy dunks, guards tend to focus on stealing the ball while preventing their men from driving the lane and taking open jumpers.

Most often, the players recognized for their defensive abilities tend to be the bigger men because of their size. Tim Duncan currently holds the record for being the player most selected for the NBA All Defensive Team with 12 selections, However Ben Wallace holds the record for most selections for the Defensive Player of the Year Award with four. In addition to these overpowering defensive forces are a handful of guards who also had outstanding defensive careers including Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton, Scottie Pippen and Bruce Bowen.

I frequently hear from the naysayers of professional basketball that “there’s no defense in the NBA.”  What these people are overlooking is the extreme height of physical talent of each and every player in the NBA which makes it so difficult to play good defense.  This is why when an extraordinary defensive player comes around, it is something special.  Gary Payton earned his nickname “The Glove” for refusing to let his men go by him on defense, this kind of tenacity is a rare thing in professional sports, and even more so on the defensive end.

When it comes to Bruce Bowen, you won’t find his box score stats all that impressive; however, this is exactly what makes him so unique.  Bowen was the type of role player that coaches dream about, one who would grind it out every single game to lock down on defense in order to get his team the win.  Bowen was not about getting the glory or the credit, but rather exhibiting the fundamentals of the game.  In the 8 seasons that he played with the San Antonio Spurs, Bowen and his teammates won 3 NBA championships and made it to the Western Conference Finals 4 times.  Bowen’s stats might not wow you, but his contribution to his team is beyond measure.

With the main goal of most sports to score more points than the opponent it is easy to overlook the necessity of a solid defense.  Here’s to Bruce Bowen and to hoping that more professional athletes take his approach to the game.

Nach wochenlangem Warten hat Ramon Sessions nun endlich auch ein offizielles Angebot eines NBA Vereins vorliegen. Wer jetzt aber dachte, dieses Angebot käme von den Knicks, der irrt. Die Minnesota Timberwolves und Sessions sind sich nun scheinbar am schnellsten einig geworden. Nachdem Minnesota Sebastian Telfair zu den Clippers getradet hat und nun endgültig feststeht, dass Ricky Rubio zunächst in Spanien bleibt, macht es für David Kahn Sinn, einen talentierten Spielmacher, wie Sessions verpflichten zu wollen. Neben Rookie Jonny Flynn, Veteran Chucky Atkins und Bobby Brown, der einigen aus der BBL bekannt sein sollte, wäre Sessions der vierte Spieler, der die Position des Point Guards bekleiden könnte. $ 16 Millionen für vier Jahre soll Session in Minneapolis bekommen.

Bruce Bowen hat seine Basketball-Sneaker an den Nagel gehängt. Der Defensivspezialist, der mit den San Antonio Spurs drei Championships gewinnen konnte, spielte zwölf Saisonen in der NBA. In dieser Offseason wurde er von den Spurs zu den Milwaukee Bucks getradet, die ihn einige Zeit später entließen. Acht Mal wurde der 38-jährige in das all-defensive Team der NBA gewählt. Bowen beendet seine Karriere mit einem Schnitt von 6,1 Punkten, 2,8 Rebounds und 1,2 Assists pro Spiel in insgesamt 873 Begegnungen.

Die Memphis Grizzlies haben Allen Iverson ein Vertragsangebot unterbreitet und warten auf dessen Antwort. Iverson liegt ein Angebot von mindestens $ 3,5 Million, maximal aber $ 4,4 Millionen, vor. Doch das scheint A.I. nicht genug zu sein oder ihm gefällt nicht, dass er wohl auch bei den Grizzlies nur von der Bank kommen würde. Währenddessen hat sich Memphis dazu entschieden auch Free Agent Mike Taylor ein Vertragsangebot zu machen. Der athletische Point Guard spielte letzte Saison als Rookie bei den L.A. Clippers und erzielte dort 5,4 Punkte und 2,1 Assists pro Spiel.

Early in his NBA career, it seemed that Bruce Bowen did not belong anywhere. He bounced around from team to team and from league to league.

In 2001, this all changed when he signed with the San Antonio Spurs. The team was already a title contender and by 2003, the team had won the NBA championship.

Bruce Bowen was known for his tough defense and his three-point shot. He was forced to contain Kobe Bryant in the 2003 playoffs and managed to hold him down just a bit.

In the 2005 playoffs, he was able to hold Chauncey Billups, it was Bowen’s defense that helped the Spurs defeat the Pistons in the NBA Finals. Bruce Bowen has provided NBA fans with plenty of memories as he was the key component of the Spurs franchise.

In 2007, he was key in the Spurs championship run. It was the job of Bruce Bowen to guard LeBron James, the NBA’s biggest star.

Perhaps, however, Bruce Bowen is known more for the Spurs’ 2007 playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. In the series against the Suns, Bowen kneed Steve Nash in the groin and kicked Amare Stoudemire in the same game.

In 2008, he played well, but the Spurs lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In 2009, the team failed to win the NBA title on an odd numbered year for the first time since 2001.

This offseason has been one of rebuilding for the San Antonio Spurs, anyway.

by Jack Maidment

Bruce Bowen will hang up his sneaks as of today thus ending the Dynasty of Defence (trademarked…) which has haunted the League’s best scorers for countless years.

Twice runner up Defensive Player of the Year and consistently All NBA First and Second Defensive team member Bowen has called time on his lengthy career at the tender age of 38.

With 3 rings to go with his many personal accolades Mr Bowen will be greatly missed from the NBA and the San Antonio Spurs who lose a player who embodies the try-hard and can-do attitude that Greg Popovitch’s team has become famous for.

For reminding us of the importance and craft of defense, we salute you Bruce Bowen.

Bruce Bowen, el hombre que durante años sembró el pavor en la liga por su dureza (algunos lo llamarían de otra forma) defensiva, acaba de anunciar su retirada de las canchas. Media liga respira más tranquila al enterarse de que este buen hombre ya no será un peligro para la integridad física de los jugadores de la NBA…

Aunque la pasada temporada Bruce Bowen pasó bastante desapercibido en los San Antonio Spurs (sus medias de 2,7 puntos así lo atestiguan), nuestro amigo fue durante casi una década un hombre extremadamente útil para el equipo tejano. Después de unos primeros años de carrera en Miami, Boston y Philadelphia en los que pasó un tanto desapercibido (aunque ya apuntaba maneras), Bowen halló en el equipo de Gregg Popovich su hábitat natural, convirtiéndose en un aceptable triplista (en especial desde su clásica posición en el lateral) y, sobre todo, en un expeditivo (y recalco lo de “expeditivo”) especialista defensivo. No voy a criticar gratuitamente a Bowen pero tampoco voy a andarme con paños calientes: si su principal virtud era su capacidad para defender al mejor jugador del equipo rival, fuese cual fuese su posición, probablemente su peor defecto era que utilizaba cualquier recurso a su alcance para frenarle… recurriendo en ocasiones a jugadas más bien sucias. De hecho, era un especialista en “dejar” su pierna en el lugar más sensible de la anatomía del jugador al que marcaba. Eso hizo de él uno de los jugadores más infames en las canchas de toda la liga, cosa que contrasta radicalmente con su fama fuera de las pistas, donde todo el mundo lo define como un gran tipo, mejor compañero de equipo y padre de familia ejemplar.

Pero pese a todo, Bowen fue un gran defensor. Y aunque nunca ganó el premio al Jugador Defensivo del Año (algo que tal vez habría sido excesivo), sí que fue incluido cinco veces consecutivas en el Quinteto Defensivo del Año, algo que no es precisamente fácil. También hay que recordar que ganó tres anillos con los Spurs, aportando siempre defensa y, como decía algún que otro triple importante, faceta en la cual ha ido poco a poco a menos con el paso de los años. 

Ahora, con 38 añitos y tras haberlo dado todo, Bowen anuncia su retirada. Bruce fue traspasado a los Bucks este verano dentro del paquete enviado a Milwaukee a cambio de Richard Jefferson, pero nunca estuvo claro que siguiera jugando a estas alturas de su carrera. Hoy se ha confirmado que, definitivamente, cuelga las botas. ¿Se reciclará como entrenador? ¿Como comentarista televisivo? Tengo curiosidad…

Y para cerrar esta entrada, lo que todos estáis esperando: algunos vídeos de Bowen en acción. Desde la ya célebre (y salvaje) patada en la cara a Wally Szczerbiak hasta su encontronazo con Chris Paul la temporada pasada, cuando ya no tenía el cuerpo para meterse en muchos rifirafes, pasando por sus acciones contra Amar’e Stoudemire o Steve Nash (¡ah, el Suns-Spurs, un clásico de esta década que se reivindicará en el futuro, sin duda!), hay un poco de todo, para vuestro regocijo visual (y sí, sé que algunos vídeos ya los colgué en su momento, pero… siempre “apetece” volver a ver a Bruce en acción):

Bowen le da una patadita en el tobillo a Stoudemire… ampliado y en slow motion:

 Bowen le da una patadita en ciertas partes a Steve Nash:

Bowen, a lo ninja, le arranca media cara a Wally Szczerbiak (primero en buena calidad, luego en calidad más floja pero a cámara lenta). Dios, nunca me canso de ver este vídeo. Ejerce sobre mí una fascinación malsana:

Bowen lesiona en el tobillo a Allen Iverson (aunque esta casi me parece casual, sino fuera porque con Bowen nunca nada es casual):

Bowen se “enreda” con Chris Paul y CP3 se revuelve:

De nuevo “casualmente”, Bowen pisa a Steve Francis:

En fin… genio y figura, que se suele decir. Cuando digo que media liga ha suspirado aliviada al enterarse de la noticia de su retirada, no exagero…

Bruce, long considered a defensive nightmare for opposing players, has officially announced his retirement from the NBA.  He won three championships with the Spurs, 2003, 2005, and 2007.

Bruce says:

“It’s not how you start but how you finish,” Bowen said. “I hope my legacy would be as someone that never was satisfied with just being where they were.”

What is next for Bruce?  The San Antonio Express News writes:

Bowen, who will remain in San Antonio, plans to remain close to basketball through a hoped-for broadcasting career. He has auditioned for a role with ESPN’s coverage of the NBA, and is scheduled to work in an unspecified role with Turner Broadcasting.

Ex Heater Bruce Bowen retired from the NBA today, after being one of the top role players for this decade.  He only played one full season (doesn’t it seem like he was here a long time for some reason?) with the Heat (plus a few games when he was an NBA neophyte  in 1997 before he was waived and 27 at the end of the 1999 season when he was reclaimed off waivers).  This was the season Zo went out with the kidney disease, but look at the character/heart guys they had on the team:  Bowen, Majerle, AC Green, Hardaway, Eddie Jones, Brian Grant. 

No wonder they won 50 games despite having no Alonzo for essentially the entire season, and finished a surprising 2nd in the division.  Four of Riley’s assistant coaches from that year went on to become NBA head coaches too– Stan Van Gundy, Erik Spoelstra, Jeff Bzdelik, and Marc Iavaroni. 

Cheers to Bruce Bowen for a great NBA career, 3 rings with San Antonio and being one of the best defensive wing players of his time.

I love GP's face in this pic

New today, former San Antonio Spurs forward has announced that he will be retiring from professional basketball. This article from The San Antonio Express-News’ Richard Oliver:

Bruce Bowen has known for some time that this day would come. And now that it’s here, he’s feeling surprisingly calm about it.

The former Spurs great is retiring from the NBA.

“I’m very happy,” Bowen, 38, said Thursday morning. “It hasn’t been difficult. I was content about it and understood it was going to happen.”

At a news conference at the Yardley’s Salon and Spa, the business he owns with his wife, Yardley, Bowen officially hung up his sneakers and moved toward a future that will still include ties to basketball.

In addition to working on his local business and charity interests, Bowen had an audition with ESPN earlier this week and will be working on something with Turner Broadcasting later.

He may also be doing some broadcasting work on high school games. Bowen also hopes to continue his advertising work with H-E-B, Hallmark Institute and AT&T.

“I’m always going to do something around the game of basketball,” Bowen said.

Though the Spurs will not be signing him to a ceremonial one-day contract or anything or that nature, Bowen said he feels he’s retiring as a Spur.

“Everybody knows, and Pop said the same thing, ‘You’re a Spur,’ ” Bowen said, referring to coach Gregg Popovich.

He spent 12 seasons in the league, including the final eight with the Spurs. Regarded as one of the league’s strongest defenders, Bowen was part of three San Antonio championship teams.

On June 24, he was part of a three-team trade with the Bucks and Pistons that brought Richard Jefferson to San Antonio. After an extended wait, during which Milwaukee tried to ship Bowen to another team, the Bucks released him last month.

Though he is now a free agent, Bowen said he had no plans to move on. He’ll be staying in San Antonio, his adopted home. The Spurs, for their part, had made it clear he wasn’t in their future plans.

“It was just about being able to say, ‘All right, it’s done,’ ” he said.

The added bonus, Bowen said: Being home for his sons, ages 2 and 3.

“(Yardley) enjoys the chance for them to see ‘Papi’ more,” Bowen said.

I just want to say to Bruce, good luck and thanks for all you’ve done for the San Antonio community… and yes, Once a Spur, Always a Spur.

Coming down to it, just a little over two hours until college football kicks off on ESPN.

So kill some time by checking out a few links:

Hold your screaming and yelling, gnashing and whatever else comes with thoughts of Michael Vick being back in the NFL. He’s back. And he’s playing in week three.

Been a long eight months for former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who was fired as the offensive coordinator by the Tampa Bay Bucs today. This is the second time this year Jagodzinski has been dismissed after BC cut ties with him for pursuing an NFL head coaching job.

The stories coming out about how every athletic department flagrantly breaks rules for required practice time is exactly why the NCAA probably will not do anything. They know it. But they also know that these departments are very good at making look like nothing was required…

Bruce Bowen is retiring. Every offense player in the league is sleeping better tonight.

Lost in the hoopla of football starting tonight is a pretty big game in Philadelphia between the Giants and the Phillies. Brad Penny was lights out for the Giants last night and now they send their ace and reigning Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum to the mound against Pedro Martinez, while sitting a game behind the Rockies in the wild card race.

Knew we could count on somebody to breakdown how much worse the NL is than the AL.

Also, as posted before, UCLA will play in the Rose Bowl on Saturday, despite being just miles from the California wildfires. Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, who’s judgement has been in question since he hired some guy named Neuheisal, said the school got the go-ahead from the fire marshall. And in an extremely nice gesture, the school will offer free admission to all firefighters and their families.

Killed some time? It’s almost here…

Calling the Spurs Bruce Bowen’s team certainly seems unusual, like referring to Bill Cartwright’s Bulls or Brian Shaw and the Lakers.  Great players who lead their teams to multiple championships usually become ubiquitously attached to them, yet Duncan never really owned the Spurs like a Bird or a Magic.  Rather, it was Bowen’s face-kicking, testicle-popping shenanigans that came to define them and helped crystallize the world’s hatred.  They became the evil empire, which never made sense considering that Duncan is one of the least offensive, best-natured superstars ever, Ginobili is a classy and intelligent NBA ambassador, and even Parker, though aggravatingly French, is not a bad dude.  Of course, some of the animosity is because no one roots for Goliath, and when the Suns came along as America’s Team, the Spurs were the perfect foil.  They were never really boring, just good at defense and ideally built to disrupt the more entertaining Suns; also, they had Bowen.

He was the counter-argument to any Spurs apologist.  No matter how long you spent explaining that Ginobili sees angles that only exist in dimensions humans can’t perceive or that Duncan’s post-game is so refined it went to finishing school, “Bruce Bowen” was a succinct and convincing discussion-killer.  Now, with Bowen gone and the Jefferson acquisition making it homophobic to dislike them, the Spurs are everyone’s favourite team.  Tons of pundits have them winning the West and even blogland has seemed to turn around on them.

Can’t really say I’m on board.  They made some great acquisitions, but I’m not going to enjoy watching Duncan and Ginobili hobble around on bad legs.  And weirdly, it really does feel like part of the core of the team is gone, even if that “core” averaged 2.7 points last year.  Though I’m not going to miss him endangering my favourite player’s careers, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness about this retirement.  This may seem revisionist, but there was something impressive about the way he was constantly inventing new dirty tactics and avoiding punishment; certainly the fact that a dude with no real athletic talent worked hard enough to become elite at two skills (perimeter D and shooting threes) and made himself a key player on a dynasty is to be respected.  And the Wally jump kick is legendary.  In a lot of ways, Bowen was the perfect bad guy, and there’s something to be said about that.

So long, Bruce.  We’ll miss you, sort of.

Bruce Bowen, known flatteringly as ‘the rash’ on wikipedia’s NBA nickname page, announced his retirement today after failing to come to terms with the Boston Celtics… Bruce Bowen’s retirement is unlikely to generate much, if any, nostalgia outside of San Antonio – where the fans have long since drunk the Poppovich-koolaid, and are already advocating retiring Bowen’s number.

Why will a sum total of zero objective fans, and  NBA players miss Bowen? Well, as his nickname implies, he was a despicably dirty player…

For all of the rash’s flaws, and kicks, and elbows, however, there is one fact about Mr. Bowen that is indisputable: he helped his team win basketball games. He was a starter and a pivotal cog for a Spurs team that has excelled for much of the last decade. He won championships – three of them – and was on the NBA’s 1st defensive team every season between 2003 and 2008… Nonetheless, Dirty Bruce Bowen will be remembered as much for being the godfather of cheap, intentional and classless, ticky-tack fouls, as he will be for his smothering defense and his memorable head-to-head match-ups versus Kobe…

Here’s a compilation featuring some of Bruce’s greatest hits, including his infamous jump-kick to the head of Wall-E Sczerbiak (for which, Bowen was fined 7 grand) and his kneeing of Steve Nash’s crotch – made even funnier by the Chinese play-by-play guys…

More bruises – and hilarious videos – courtesy of Mr. Bowen after the jump…

Here’s one of those rare cheap-shots that the whole family can enjoy; Bruce Bowen throws a covert elbow that injures everybody’s least favorite NBA hipster, Sasha Vujacic

A better look at Bowen’s hilarious Ninja Kick to Wall-E’s supermodel head:

I personally admire, even have affection for, how the Spurs have built their team and won championships in a small market; however, this video – probably made by a Suns fan – usefully reminds us that the NBA  is where Spurs Basketball Happens:

Getting to the NBA is not easy, sticking to an NBA team proved to be even harder. But with hard work, faith, dedication and perseverance you might be able to pull it through.

Ask Bruce Bowen, after all his journey to the NBA never came easy, he was not drafted and bounced around the league in the early part of his career. But that is up until he played with the San Antonio Spurs.

In San Antonio, Bowen found his niche and has done his best playing great defense. He would have the unenviable tasks of guarding the likes of Allen, Carter, McGrady, Bryant and James among others. Other players even labeled him as a “dirty” player, Phil Jackson even called him Edward “scissor hands” at some point. But you know what? I don’t buy that, for me Bowen is just a hard worker that has mastered defensive anticipations which makes him so effective.

He was a key player in Spurs’ title run in ‘03, ‘05 and ‘07. An amazing feat for a guy that was “unwanted” in the league early on. With success he remains humble and when asked what advice he can give for aspiring young players this is what he said “Follow your heart. It’s different strokes for different folks. What worked for me, may not work for you. You have to find your own path when it comes to things of this nature”

Clearly he found his path, he found his home with the Spurs. But eventually things have changed. An early exit of last years playoffs, forced the Spurs to go in a different direction trading Bowen, Oberto and Thomas to the Bucks for Richard Jefferson.

After the trade, Bowen was asked if he is willing to re-sign with the Spurs if that possibility arises. He answered ‘Yes’ without hesitating. He was even able to bid goodbye with class. Later on he was waived and is now a Free Agent some Spurs fans (including me) thought of the possibility of bringing him back. But then again Coach Pop would say this “I’ve given him no such indication, He might come back with the right team in the right situation, but it’s probably not going to be San Antonio.”

I bet Bowen was hurt deep down, probably even harder compared to the time when he was traded, but we never heard a word from him, no complaints. He might not be the same player he was before, but I still find it hard seeing him playing for another team. For me, he is a Spur by heart and mind. I think he knows this too, so if he ends up hanging his Jersey #12 before the season starts it wouldn’t surprise me, but he will certainly be missed (heck even the guys he used to guard might miss him, ask Kobe). And if he chooses to play? no matter how remote or unpopular (or popular depends on whom you asked) this may seem, I hope it would be for the Spurs. He knows he can’t play with the same passion and love for any other team, if only he will follow his heart…

The Bucks are stupid to cut Bruce Bowen now. He would have a hell of a lot more value at the trade deadline for them (if they were in the race)  or for a contender that may have overlooked him now or because of injury.
I am surprised that Bowen did not attract trade interest. He is one of the better players in the league. I view him as a notch above Robert Horry because he can play defense and shoot. I would be comfortable having Bowen take a last second shot.