And while everyone is still showering this revelation with rainbow-colored confetti, I am left with a question of when will the next Jason Collins come out and more importantly, who will he be?

Collins have already started the path and since the acceptance of homosexuals in the society is gaining ground each day, the next gay NBAer to reveal his gayness may just be around the corner, taking a shower with another man.

I am listing here some of my prime candidate to join Collins’ club:

1. Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton

Try to stare at Richard Jefferson’s eyes for a little while and you will be able to read his mind saying he wants a man by his bedside at night. But seriously, Jefferson became more of a suspect when he ditched his wedding with former New Jersey Nets dancer Kesha Ni'Cole Nichols a mere two hours before the scheduled ceremony. Not that simply dumping your fiancé is a dead giveaway that one is gay but what kind of man really does that? Jefferson has got to have some serious issues to pull that off. And if you have seen how his ex-fiancée looks like then you could tell how lucky a guy Jefferson was.

Then these photos of him and Luke Walton with some other friends from a Europe vacation made its rounds in the internet which only made the allegations that he’s gay go louder. Banana boat ride? Posing with a group guy each showing queer moves of their own.

C’mon now Richard, you’ve already lost your shot at history by being the first to come out but second place isn’t that bad.

 

  

 2. Jarron Collins

Jarron Collins is Jason’s twin brother. Not only do they look alike, their career NBA stats are also close to being identical. Jarron averaged 3.9 PPG and 2.9 RPG while Jason has 3.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG. I don’t think their resemblance to each other just end there. Who knows that sharing the same set of chromosomes or gene structure or whatever cluster of DNA that holds the key to their similarity would cause Jarron doing a Jason one day? One more thing, don’t fall too hard on his new shirt.

3. Mike Miller

Mike Miller is among the number of NBA players who voiced out their support of Jason Collins when the latter admitted his gayness. They were pretty close to each other back in their Memphis days and according to the Sports Illustrated article by Collins, he once dropped by Miller’s house to buy German Shepard puppies. Or is it the only thing that happened between the two that day? Another connection to a gay athlete on Miller’s resume was in his playing days as a Magic where he was a teammate to the godmother of hardcourt homosexuals, John Amaechi. Remember, then Orlando superstar Tracy McGrady said in a 2003 interview with New York Post that he had witnessed gay behavior in the locker room and that he believes that at least 5% of NBA players are gay. Let me just say that T-mac played on the same team with Amaechi and Miller.

4. Reggie Evans

Don’t be deceived by his monster looks. This dude’s hands are like heat-seeking missiles when it comes to finding other players’ junks. Reggie Evans gave birth to a new definition of “ball game”. You can go ask Chris Kaman about it.

Evans’ repertoire of skills when it comes to touching any part below the belt wasn’t just limited to the privates. In the clip below, you’ll see that he also practices the intricate art of spanking. His butt-slapping antics, I assume is caused by his inability to hold off his fantasy of hitting guys’ bare asses while in the middle of a game.

What’s more amazing is that Evans got T’ed up twice for doing the same act. You can say he’s dirty but still I can still sense there is more to him than just agitating his opponents.

5 .Kobe Bryant

YES.

When it comes to the Eastern Conference, Miami Heat are on top of the league and clear favourites to win not just that, but also the NBA title. Although the odds vary, the best you can get on them are 6/4, and with 47 wins in the Conference and a win percentage of 0.770, they will be a hard team for anyone to beat. In the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs top the table, but are behind second placed Oklahoma City Thunder, when it comes to the odds for the NBA. Oklahoma have been in superb Conference form recently, which may account for their 7/2 odds, but they are missing James Harden – which could affect their chances of overhauling the Spurs and of winning the NBA title.

San Antonio has demonstrated that they are real contenders, not just for the Conference, but also for the NBA, with improved defence this season – and 13/2 will look attractive to many. Whoever you opt for, it won’t be without risk, but this is true of any kind of betting. Of course some carry less risk of ending up out of pocket than others, with a basketball online casino game like Slam Dunk being a good example of this. The game an be found at online casinos like www.ipadcasino.co.nz. The reason you have less chance of ending up with nothing by playing this game is because the wild symbol (the number 23 jersey) can substitute for any other missing symbol to create a winning reel – which improves your odds of securing a payout. Thus, what you opt for will depend on how great a risk you want from your basketball betting.

WRITTEN BY PETER J. NOVAK | August 10, 2012

New General Manager Jazz Fan Orientation

“The King is Dead, Long Live the King”

Thank you for all your hard work Kevin O’Connor, now please take your red stapler and the rest of your belongings and move your stuff to the office in the basement.  Welcome aboard Dennis Lindsey, are you all settled in yet?  Have you gone through the office supply catalog and picked out your calendar, your pen caddy and your new Utah Jazz business cards?  Good.  Time to get to work.

By now Mr. Lindsey, as the brand spanking new General Manager of the Utah Jazz (at least in title), you’ve made the rounds in the Jazz offices, you’ve shaken everybody’s hand, you’ve kissed all their babies, you’ve schmoozed the media (a job well done I might add), you’ve met with the information technology department and received a tutorial on your 1990’s Windows 3.0 based computer, and you’ve filled out all of your human resource forms.  You should be all locked in and ready to transform the Utah Jazz into the championship contender the fan base is confident you will deliver.

However, Mr. Lindsey before you are set completely loose, please take a moment of your time and try to understand the desires of the Utah Jazz fan base.  We all know that Gail and Greg Miller will keep you for life so long as you work hard at your job but please just humor us a bit and consider our needs as the loyal fans of Utah’s only professional sports franchise.  After this brief orientation we will leave you alone to do your work and only return to raise our voices again when you do something really dumb…or if you do something really smart…or when you don’t do anything at all…or when you do something that should have been done before…or when you order Café Rio for lunch… or…well…you get the idea.

So without further adieu, here are your first five assignments from your loyal Jazz fan base:

#1 Acquire a Future Point Guard:  Jazz fans love our point guards.  We’ve been spoiled.  For 28 out of the past 31 NBA seasons the Jazz have been guided by either Rickey Green, John Stockton or Deron Williams.  All of these point guards have had all-star caliber careers and one of which is the greatest pure point guard of all time (Off-Topic :  by adding the word “pure” it takes Magic Johnson out of the conversation).  Since Deron Williams was traded, the Jazz have yet to fill the void.  We thought Devin Harris might be that guy.  He had an all-star year previously for the Nets, but he was not the right fit in Utah.  O’Connor has brought back Mo Williams to try to fill the spot, but Mo is coming off the worse season of his career.  A season in which Mo was not a starter not to mention that he will be turning 30 later this year.

The Jazz need a young point guard to groom with our Core Four (Off-Topic:  “Core Four” is our catchy/corny little nickname we’ve come up with to refer to Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.  Off-Off-Topic:  if you trade one of those four guys you may have some crazy Jazz fan threaten to cut you with a knife).  The average age of the Core Four is 21 years old.  Regardless of how well Mo Williams plays next year, he will be long retired once the Core Four hits its prime.

There are some people who may argue that an elite point guard is no longer needed to win in the NBA.  LeBron James didn’t have one last year.  Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant never played with one.  Regardless, the Jazz fans need one.  It is kind of our thing.  We like to see unselfish guard play set up the rest of our team.  So we beg of you, please trade for a point guard we can peg our future to.  Or please sign one.  Or at the very least please be seen in college arenas this year scouting out top college point guard prospects.

#2 Trade Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson or Both:  This suggestion may help you with #1 above, but we as fans are ready to transition to the Derrick Favors era.  It is time.  You said in your introductory press conference that Derrick Favors “made six or seven plays in the San Antonio series that we were shaking our knees  that there’s very few guys that can make those types of plays” (Off-Topic:  Jazz fans will not forget that quote, we will hold it over your head forever).  A player of that ability needs to start and he needs to play the bulk of every game he is a part of.  However, as long as Millsap and Jefferson are on the team, Favors will differ to their veteran presence and not demand more.  That is just part of his good southern values, something I am sure you know all about.  While it is noble for Favors to defer to the veterans in front of him, it is holding back his development long-term.  He needs court time and he needs to be given more touches on offense.  Until that happens we won’t know if Favors is the next Dwight Howard or the next Emeka Okafor.

Now do not get me wrong, Jazz fans love Millsap.  O’Connor stole him in the second round from the same university where we drafted our all time best player, Karl Malone.  Furthermore, Jazz fans respect Jefferson.  We may not all be so fond of his game, but he is a good guy and gives maximum effort.  However, with both of these guys playing their final year in their contracts, there is a good chance that one or both of them walk away next off-season and leave the Jazz without anything to show for it.  So please, get on the phone and make some calls.  Go get us our future point guard or get us some future draft picks.

#3 Don’t Re-Sign Josh Howard:  For the love of all that is holy, do not re-sign Josh Howard.  He was terrible last year.  Furthermore, his history of knee injuries crept up once again and put him on the sideline for a big chunk of last season.  The Jazz have depth at small forward now.  Marvin Williams is a serviceable starter.  DeMarre Carroll plays with hustle that Jazz fans truly appreciate.  Gordon Hayward and Paul Millsap (if you keep him) can all log minutes at small forward.  The Jazz are four deep at small forward right now, there is no point adding a fifth.

I understand that one of the modus operandi of the Spurs was investing in veteran reclamation projects.  What you guys did with Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson last year was amazing.  You must know however, that if you re-sign Josh Howard, Coach Corbin will play him heavy minutes, all to the detriment of the development of the Core Four.  So please repeat with me “I WILL NOT RE-SIGN JOSH HOWARD”.  Thank you!

#4 Find and Name a Team Captain: Last season Corbin went the whole year without naming a team captain.  I would hazard a guess that Corbin did not think that any of the players on his roster would command the respect as the team leader over the rest of the crew.  He may have been right.

As Gandhi once said “…a rudderless ship, [is] bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock.”  While the Jazz may have bonded together and earned a playoff spot, the lack of leadership played a role in our embarrassing 4-0 first round playoff sweep to the Spurs.  It was in the midst of that series that Jefferson, our alleged best player, was quoted as saying that the Spurs were unbeatable.  It is times like that that team leadership is needed the most to stay the course and bring everyone back on board.

That being said the Jazz may have their leader this year in Mo Williams.  Or perhaps Gordon Hayward takes another step in his development and becomes more assertive in a leadership role.  Either option may or may not pan out, but until this team has a confident take charge leader like Stockton and Malone or Duncan, Ginobili and Parker, we will be lucky to escape the first round of the playoffs.

#5 Put on a Smile: Lastly, Jazz fans are excited to have you here.  We love your Spurs pedigree.  We hate the Spurs organization, but only because they are so good a beating us.  It is laudable what the Spurs have accomplished as a small market organization.  Jazz fans respect that.  We understand that part of what has made the Spurs so successful is the cohesiveness of the organization and their ability to keep their business in house.  We understand that as our General Manager you will keep many secrets from us until the very last minute.  We are ok with that that is part of your job.  However, please at least make us believe that you enjoy your job and all of the duties that come with it, even speaking with the media.  Following the Utah Jazz as fans is an outlet for us, a form of entertainment and it should be fun.  It is fun!  Are you having fun yet?

All Times listed are PACIFIC

Friday July 13
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Atlanta vs. Washington
3 PM -- Houston vs. Toronto
5 PM -- Golden State vs. LA Lakers
7 PM -- Sacramento vs. Charlotte

Saturday July 14
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Memphis vs. New York
3 PM -- Golden State vs. Denver
5 PM -- LA Lakers vs. Sacramento
7 PM -- Houston vs. Washington

Sunday July 15
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- New York vs. Phoenix
3 PM -- Denver vs. Dallas
5 PM -- San Antonio vs. Atlanta
7 PM -- Washington vs. NBA D-League

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- Toronto vs. Miami
5:30 PM -- Cleveland vs. Charlotte
7:30 PM -- New Orleans vs. Portland

Monday July 16
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Atlanta vs. Boston
3 PM -- Dallas vs. Toronto
5 PM -- Cleveland vs. NBA D-League
7 PM -- LA Clippers vs. Minnesota

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- Houston vs. Sacramento
5:30 PM -- LA Lakers vs. Miami
7:30 PM -- Milwaukee vs. New Orleans

Tuesday July 17
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Denver vs. New York
3 PM -- Washington vs. Memphis
5 PM -- Portland vs. Houston
7 PM -- Chicago vs. Boston

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- San Antonio vs. LA Lakers
5:30 PM -- Cleveland vs. Phoenix
7:30 PM -- Minnesota vs. Charlotte

Wednesday July 18
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Milwaukee vs. Washington
3 PM -- Chicago vs. Houston
5 PM -- Atlanta vs. Dallas
7 PM -- San Antonio vs. LA Clippers

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- Sacramento vs. Toronto
5:30 PM -- New Orleans vs. Phoenix
7:30 PM -- Golden State vs. Miami

Thursday July 19
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- New York vs. Toronto
3 PM -- Portland vs. Atlanta
5 PM -- Cleveland vs. Minnesota
7 PM -- NBA D-League vs. Milwaukee

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- Boston vs. Sacramento
5:30 PM -- LA Clippers vs. LA Lakers
7:30 PM -- Charlotte vs. Denver

Friday July 20
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- New York vs. Cleveland
3 PM -- Denver vs. Portland
5 PM -- Miami vs. San Antonio
7 PM -- NBA D-League vs. Phoenix

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- Memphis vs. Charlotte
5:30 PM -- Chicago vs. Golden State
7:30 PM -- Dallas vs. New Orleans

Saturday July 21
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Portland vs. Miami
3 PM -- Dallas vs. San Antonio
5 PM -- NBA D-League vs. Minnesota
7 PM -- Memphis vs. Phoenix

• Thomas & Mack
3:30 PM -- Golden State vs. New Orleans
5:30 PM -- Chicago vs. LA Clippers
7:30 PM -- Milwaukee vs. Boston

Sunday July 22
• COX Pavilion
1 PM -- Chicago vs. Milwaukee
3 PM -- Boston vs. LA Clippers
5 PM -- Memphis vs. Minnesota

• SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
• All Times listed are PACIFIC